


Where We Might End Up

by aumontalc



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 10:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 30,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8485792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aumontalc/pseuds/aumontalc
Summary: Ten years after the plane crash, the doctors at Seattle Grace Mercy West are scattered across the country. They flock back to Seattle to celebrate the retirement of an exceptional colleague and mentor. They soon discover that their former coworkers lead different lives now.





	1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters._

**Year 2022**

"Zola!" Meredith yelled up the stairs, extremely frustrated. It was time to go and Zola was taking forever as she always did.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back.

"It is time to leave. If we don't leave now, we'll miss our flight."

Zola walked down the stairs, slowly, dragging her feet. Meredith turned to look at Derek who was grinning. He thought this situation was funny, did he?

"I don't understand why I have to go. I can stay with my friend Jules. Then, I wouldn't have to miss the Two Directions concert. Can I please stay in Boston, please?" she begged.

Derek stood up from his seat at the breakfast table and put his arm around his daughter. "Sorry, Zoles, but you're going to have to come with us to Seattle. The guest of honor hasn't seen you since you were a toddler. We can't deny him the privilege of seeing how beautiful you've become. This trip means a lot to your mom."

Rolling her eyes, Zola grabbed her suitcase. "Just for you, Mom. Who is this guy anyway?"

"Richard Webber was the chief of surgery when I started interning. I learned a lot from him. He's kind of like a second father to me."

"Cuz your real dad wasn't around that much," Zola replied. Meredith wanly smiled. Her daughter's intuition never ceased to amaze her. Even at eleven years old, she had somehow sensed that the bond between Meredith and her father was not a strong one.

"We better get going or we'll miss our flight. You might not have such a horrible time. Your Aunt Cristina will be there plus some of the other people I used to work with at Seattle."

"Cristina's coming?" Derek asked, helping her grab the last of the luggage before walking out of the house.

"I didn't tell you? It looks like a lot of people are coming back for Webber's retirement party. It'll be a high school reunion but with doctors. Alex called me yesterday and said he'd see me there. He mentioned he had a surprise for us."

"Hmm. I wonder what that will be. Did he grow a tail to match his horns?" Derek pondered.

Meredith laughed and slapped his arm playfully. "I don't think it's going to be that."

* * *

Jackson shifted in his seat while he waited for his wife to return from the bathroom. The flight from New Orleans to Seattle would be a long one. He was sort of excited about the retirement party. It would be good to catch up with people from his residency. In particular, he was looking forward to seeing Sloan. They e-mailed each other often, but he hadn't seen him in years. He'd be forever grateful to the man who had taken time to mentor him.

Glancing up, he saw his wife returning. He sighed when he noticed her crumpled face. It was apparent that she'd spent her time crying in the bathroom. As she sat down and buckled herself in the seat, he placed his hand on her knee, rubbing it gently.

"What's wrong?" he asked, although he was sure he already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry Jackson. I just worry you know. I've never been away from them for more than a day."

"April, your mom and dad are going to take good care of the kids. They are going to be just fine."

April nodded her head. "I know. You're right. I'm being silly."

Her face was still wet. Now as in the past, he couldn't stand to see her upset. He pulled her close to his chest and rubbed her back.

"Mmm. That feels good," she moaned. She lifted her head and bit her lip. "This is a long flight. Do you want to meet up in the bathroom?"

Jackson grinned. His wife might have been a virgin the first twenty-nine years of her life, but she'd spent the last ten making up for lost time. Not that he was complaining or anything.

"I would love that. I really would, but I think we might run into a logistical problem," he pointed out.

"That we can't both fit in the bathroom because I'm roughly the size of a cow?" she asked.

"You're the one that wanted another baby," Jackson reminded her.

"What can I say? I want what I want. It's not like it was hard to convince you."

Refraining from retorting with a double entendre, he kissed the top of her head and said, "I'm kind of a push over when it comes to gorgeous redheads named April."

* * *

Cristina ripped off her gloves and threw them in the trash. After all these years, she still loved cutting people open, fixing their hearts and sewing them back together. She'd done a beautiful job today. Her sutures were flawless as usual.

Working at Mayo was a dream come true. Ten years ago, Mayo had been like a refugee camp for her. She had wanted to escape from Seattle Grace Mercy Death, from Owen. Now, this place was home. Cristina couldn't imagine practicing medicine anywhere else. Here, she worked on the rarest and most interesting cases and made a boatload of money. Not to mention that she was currently being considered for head of Cardio. Every one of her career goals had been or was in the process of being fulfilled.

"Dr. Yang, do you have time to scrub in on a bypass with me tomorrow?" asked Dr. Smithson, a bubbly fifth year resident who reminded her of Kepner.

"Sorry. I've got plans this weekend. I won't be back until Monday. If you need help with anything, you'll have to contact Dr. Reyes or Dr. Kafir."

She left the operating room thinking about her upcoming trip to Seattle. It would be great to see Meredith again. Although they talked on the phone all the time, it had been two months since she'd seen her face to face. She was embarrassed to admit but she was kind of excited about seeing Bailey again. The Nazi had been her first and best mentor. Even the prospect of seeing Jackson, April and the Evil Spawn put a smile on her face. However, there was one person that she dreaded seeing. In fact, she hoped he wouldn't come at all. She knew she couldn't bear to see Owen happy and in love with his new wife.


	2. Chapter 2

**Year 2022**

"Alex Karev, is that you?"

Alex turned, grinning when he saw the faces of Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd. Walking towards them, he picked Meredith up and spun her around. He kissed her on the cheek, responding enthusiastically, "You better believe it baby!"

Meredith laughed, "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy. What happened? Are you wearing a wedding ring?"

"Yep, I've been married for almost eight years."

"And you didn't tell me? You should've called," she reprimanded, slapping Alex on the arm.

"I know I should have. I've just been so busy at Hopkins. Seattle was tough, but Hopkins, damn. I work my ass off for that place."

"That's great, Alex. I'm really happy for you," Meredith replied.

Alex smiled when he caught his wife and two kids walking towards him. He knew Meredith and Shepherd would never see this one coming.

"I think you guys might already know my wife," Alex said, motioning behind Meredith and Derek.

Turning around, Meredith let out an audible gasp and a subsequent squeal as she raced towards her. "Izzie!" she cried, hugging her tightly.

Izzie looked over Meredith's shoulder and gave him a perplexed look. He shrugged his shoulders. Who knew why Meredith was being so affectionate? Izzie was more familiar with the old Meredith, the dark and twisty one. Alex was the one who had lived with her during the more cheerful times.

"How did this happen?" Derek asked, chuckling. "The Evil Spawn has procreated."

Izzie, free of Meredith's embrace, introduced their two children. "This is Ella, she's six. And this is AJ, he's turning three soon."

"Hi," Meredith said, waving awkwardly at his kids. Meredith wasn't what one would call a natural with children, the exception being Zola. He winced, remembering his unfortunate part in their struggles to adopt.

"Izzie, you'll have to meet our daughter Zola. She's around here somewhere," Meredith said, standing on her tiptoes and searching the baggage claim area.

"Mom, I'm right behind you," Zola said.

Pushing Zola in front of her, Meredith introduced Zola to Izzie. Alex shook his head. Time stands still for no one. Zola was almost a teenager for goodness sake. Before he knew it, his own kids would be too.

"Hey, we need to check into the hotel and change, but we'll see you at the party later," Izzie said.

"Definitely," Meredith said. Then, she hugged Alex again, whispering in his ear, "There's a story here and you're going to tell it later."

* * *

To say that Teddy was nervous was an understatement. Seattle Grace Mercy West had many uncomfortable memories for her, varying from awkward to just plain horrifying. Still, she had come today to celebrate a great man's brilliant career. She could push back the memories and the fear of running into one particular person.

"Ouch! Mom that hurts," her five-year-old Matt said.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was holding your hand so tightly."

Teddy glanced apprehensively at her husband. Was he nervous too? She didn't get much time to ruminate because her good friend, Miranda Bailey, was barreling down the hall towards them."

"Altman, Hunt! It's good to see you. We've moved the party to the conference room. Follow me, I'll take you there."

* * *

"I can't believe you two actually got married," Derek said, completely baffled.

"Almost two years, can you believe it Addie?" Mark teased his wife.

"Only because I've lived it," she quipped.

His gaze swept across the room, Mark smiled when his eyes settled upon his favorite student. "Hey, Doc Hollywood, over here," he shouted.

He chuckled when he saw Jackson's face, knowing that he'd riled him. Nevertheless, Avery made his way over to the group with a very pregnant April in tow.

Alex whistled, "You look about to pop Apes."

April rolled her eyes, "Thank you. I still have three months to go."

Mark scratched his head. "What is this like your fourth kid?"

"Actually, it's our fifth. But it's the last one," Jackson said.

"Maybe," April murmured. Noting Jackson's look of surprise, she added, "I really want a girl. We have four boys already and I have a sinking feeling that this one is a boy too."

Giving his wife a sideways glance, he said, "We'll talk about that later." Turning his attention to Sloan, he asked, "How's New York?"

"It's great. Addison, Callie and I have our own practice, which means lots of money and fewer hours. Not to mention I get to spend a lot more time with Sofia."

Meredith looked around the room, "Speaking of Torres, where is she?"

"She came here with us. Callie should be around here somewhere," Mark answered.

* * *

Callie was furiously trying to fix her hair. The wind had completely ruined it. She hadn't seen most of these people in ten years. The last thing she wanted was to look like she'd had a run in with a tornado.

The door to the women's restroom opened and in walked the last person that Callie wanted to see at this moment or ever, for that matter.

"Hey, Callie," Arizona said cheerfully.

Callie chose to ignore her greeting and worked faster on fixing her hair. The sooner she got out of the bathroom the better. Their break up hadn't been what one would call congenial. In fact, it had been more like World War III.

"I know you're mad at me. I get it. I made _so_ many mistakes. Believe me, if I could go back in time and change, I would. But I've changed, Callie. I really have."

"The last time I believed you I almost lost my daughter. So forgive me if I think you're full of crap."

Thinking she looked presentable enough, Callie stormed out of the bathroom.

* * *

Miranda plopped next to Richard and asked, "How do you like your retirement party, Chief?"

"I like it just fine. I'm going to miss this place, but I couldn't leave it in better hands. You're going to be a great Chief of Surgery. Do me proud," he said, patting her on the back.

"I will Chief. Don't you worry." Surveying the room, she shook her head, "Things sure didn't turn out the way I thought they would. Meredith and Derek off in Boston. Karev back with Izzie and working at Hopkins, no less. Torres and Robbins not together anymore. Mark and Addison? That was a surprise. Jackson and April, not so much. I might be in the minority here, but I'm glad that Hunt's with Teddy. They're better suited for each other. Although, Yang looks none too happy about them. She's barely said a word this evening."

"Yep, things are very different. I wonder how all of this," Webber said, gesturing to the room full of doctors, "came to be."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ten Years Earlier - 2012**

His hands tenderly touched her face. His mind was swirling with emotions, but the one that swamped him was relief, relief that his wife had made it home alive with only a minor injury. When he had heard about the missing plane, he feared that he'd never see Cristina again. Yet here she was, in his arms at home.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair.

Cristina moved back so she could gaze into his eyes. Her face still had some bruises and cuts, but she'd never looked more beautiful to him. She caressed his face softly, stroking his cheek with her thumb. She whispered back, "I love you, too."

Owen noted the presence of tears welling in her eyes. He pulled her close, careful of her bandaged arm, and kissed her forehead. "It's all right. You're safe now," he told her.

"Why does this keep happening? It's as if I'm some sort of magnet for sorrow and death. It's not fair. It's not fair," she cried. Owen stroked her hair and let her weep. He didn't need to talk. He just needed to feel the warmth of her breath and the pounding of her heart. That was enough for him. To know that she was alive and would keep on living was more than enough.

"George is dead, Izzie got cancer, Meredith almost drowned, I had a gun to my head while I performed surgery and now, Lexie is dead. I mean seriously does this happen to other people my age? The only person I know who has lost as many friends as me is my grandmother," she raged.

Owen knew she really didn't want him to respond so he kept stroking her back, comforting her in the only way he knew how. He would continue comforting her as long as she would let him. For better or worse, he'd promised.

* * *

Her face was streaked with tears. Derek had seen her deal with loss before, but he knew Lexie's death had shaken her to the core. He knew she felt guilty about the lack of closeness with her sister, that Cristina meant more to her than Lexie had.

Her guilt and pain worried him. In the past, Meredith often turned to self-destructive behaviors like drinking and multiple one-night stands. He was scared that she'd go back to her dark place. The same dark place that made her stay under the water too long and almost drown. Ruffling his hair with his good hand, he thought surely that wouldn't be the case this time. They had Zola now. Zola needed her. Cristina needed her. Hell, he was sure Alex probably needed her too. Most of all, he needed her. Derek knew his wounds would eventually heal after much time and therapy, but he wasn't so certain about Meredith's internal ones.

"Meredith?"

Shaking herself from her trance, she looked up at him, "Yes, Derek. Are you in pain? Should I call a nurse?" she asked, half-frantic.

"Meredith, I'm fine. I'm in pain, but I'm fine. How's your leg?" he asked.

"It hurts, but it's no big deal. I'm just glad that you're all right." Meredith limped over to his hospital bed. He smiled at her. After all they had been through, he still loved her madly. He lifted his hand and combed his fingers through her hair.

"We're going to get through this, Mere. It sure as hell won't be easy, but we will survive this."

Nodding her head, Meredith agreed. "We will. We've gotten through all the crap before. We have Zola now. I'm going to be strong for her and for you."

"Good," he said before letting his pain meds drag him back under.

* * *

His little girl's face beamed with joy. Sofia had pulled herself up using the coffee table. Then, she walked tentatively over to where he was sitting on the couch. She had grown up so much during the six weeks he had spent in the hospital. In the utter disaster that was his life, she was the one bright spot left.

Mark had finally been discharged from the hospital yesterday. His injuries from the crash had been so extensive that he'd spent a lot of time in the ICU. The first few weeks of his stay had passed in a drug-induced blur of pain and even more pain whenever he would wake up and realize his Lexie was gone. To this day, his heart still physically ached for her.

The crash had left no one untouched. Everyone had some sort of injury. Other than Lexie's fatal wounds, he and Arizona had the worst of it. But they were both fine now. Or as fine as they could be.

Mark watched his daughter teeter around the living room using the furniture as a rail. From this point on, his focus in life would be his children and his career. No more of this relationship crap. He'd ended it with Julia as nicely as he could, but he didn't ever want to be in love again. He never wanted to feel this way again. It wasn't worth it.

* * *

She has on her brave face today, Jackson thought as he watched April approach. Well, he'd find out what was bothering her during lunch. He finished scribbling on the chart and placed it on the counter for the nurses to review. Dr. Jerome Findley, a fellow resident who was also new to Tulane, wiggled his eyebrows and said, "Going to have a nooner with that hot intern who's been hitting on you."

"No, I'm having lunch with a friend from Seattle."

Jerome followed Jackson's gaze, whistling softly, "Not bad. Although, I didn't peg you as a guy who liked redheads."

"Neither did I,' he murmured. Ever since he and April parted ways four weeks ago, he had missed her. When she had called to ask if she could visit him in New Orleans, he'd been downright giddy with joy. A rarity, for sure.

Leaving his coworker, he walked the rest of the way to April. Not caring whether she would get mad or not, he bent down to kiss her. Surprised at first, she eventually kissed him back, looping her arms around his neck. He smiled against her lips. Maybe, just maybe, he could figure out a way to keep her in his life.

April pulled away from him. Her eyes fixed on the ground, she whispered, "I'm so sorry Jackson…I'm pregnant."

It took a second for her words to sink in. Pregnant. How could that be? Then, he remembered. "In the bathroom, I didn't…"

"No, you didn't."

"Let's go to lunch. We'll find a way to make this work," he said, a little shocked, but nonetheless happy that fate had played straight into his hands.

* * *

Her face was smiling so he assumed she was happy, but he'd been wrong about these kinds of things before. He wasn't what one would call perceptive.

Robbins had been the most influential person in his entire career. She'd made him into the doctor he was today. Yet, here he was, wanting to leave her for Hopkins.

"Karev. Go to Hopkins. You have my blessing. I heard what you had to say on that voice mail you left me. You're going to be a fantastic doctor, but if you need to go somewhere else to prove that to yourself, then do it," Arizona said.

Alex screwed up his face. "I feel like a total ass for leaving you high and dry like this."

Arizona grabbed his hand, "Don't. You deserve this. Chase your own happiness. Besides, I have my wife to help me out."

* * *

Her face was so peaceful when she slept. Callie watched as Arizona's chest rose up and down. Unable to help herself, she pushed aside a strand of blonde hair from her face. It had been weeks since the plane crash. Arizona's face was free of contusions, but her leg still hadn't healed. The doctors in Boise had been able to save it, but she'd probably limp for the rest of her life.

Not that she cared if Arizona lost her leg or not, she'd stick with her no matter what. She thought back to the night she'd found out about the crash. It was ironic that she'd lectured Avery, Kepner and Karev about how her life used to suck and how much better it had gotten. A few hours later, she'd found out that her life was finished sucking yet.

But that had been weeks ago. Arizona was fine now and so was Mark. Her daughter was growing like a weed and getting more beautiful every day. Callie decided it was better to count the blessings instead of the sorrows. Because surely misfortune had to be bored with her by now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Year 2012**

"Welcome to the Hotel California. Such a lovely place. Such a lovely place. Such a lovely face," Mark sang along with his iPod as he finished walking up the stairs to his apartment. At the door of his place, he found Addison Montgomery, baby Henry and diaper bag in tow.

"Mark, thank goodness you're here. I was beginning to worry about you," Addison said.

"I'm fine. I just went out to get some Dairy Queen," he reassured her. He turned to the baby she held. "This must be Henry."

"Indeed it is. Do you want to invite us inside?" she asked, motioning her head towards the apartment.

"Yeah, come on in," he said, opening the door.

Viewing the complete disarray his apartment was in, Addison gasped, "Are you auditioning for an episode of Hoarders? When was the last time you cleaned this place? Not to mention, when was the last time you shaved? You look awful."

Mark knew she was right. He'd let many things slide these past couple of months, but who didn't when they lost the love of their life. Sure, he might look Appalachian and he probably had some dried Blizzard stuck in his beard, but he didn't care. He had no one to impress.

"Callie told me you were having a hard time of it, but I hadn't realized things had gotten this bad," Addison admitted.

"Sometimes Torres doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut," Mark growled.

Addison threw him one of her you're-full-of-crap looks. She set her son down in the playpen that Sofia used whenever she stayed with him. Then, she walked over and hugged him. "She's worried about you. We're all worried about you."

Taking a deep breath, she put her hands on her hips and surveyed the room. "This place needs a good scouring. You need to shave." She patted his stomach. "A jog wouldn't hurt you either."

He stood looking at her uncomprehendingly. Finally, she barked, "What are you waiting for? Let's get this place cleaned up."

* * *

"You know that we are living in a material world and I am a material girl." Cristina crooned as she packed her overnight bag. She was in a great mood. After years of living at the bottom of the surgical food chain, she'd received her first real paycheck with the appropriate amount of zeros. The cherry on top was she didn't have to work this weekend. She had plans to meet up with Owen in Denver.

After the initial shock of the crash had faded, Cristina had decided to leave for Mayo anyway. As much as she loved Owen, she needed a break, an opportunity to really focus on her career. That didn't mean she wanted to give up on her marriage just yet. They had decided to do the long distance thing. So far, it was working pretty well. They'd meet up every week or two to go out for dinner and spend the night in a hotel. Abstinence only made the sex hotter. It was a win-win situation. They were still married and at the same time, she got the space she needed.

* * *

"I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure! And I just can't wait til the day when you knock on my door!" Meredith twirled Zola as she belted the cheesy lyrics of "Walking on Sunshine."

Zola looked so adorable dancing to music. Her little body wobbled as she tried to dance to the beat. Her daughter definitely shared her love of dance parties.

"I'm walking on sunshine, wooah. I'm walking on sunshine, woooah and don't it feel good!"

Meredith scooped Zola up, lifted her high in the air, and rubbed her nose against her daughter's. They continued dancing around the room until the song played out. Meredith laughed as Zola clapped her hands and wiggled her little hips.

"How I've missed that sound," Derek said as he dropped his things on the couch. He walked towards her taking her hand and giving her a spin before dancing with her to the next song on the radio. Derek nuzzled her neck and placed a kiss against the base of her throat. Smiling, he murmured, "You have the best laugh. It's one of my favorite sounds."

"It's hard not to when you have a daughter as cute as ours…Life is a gift. I should enjoy every moment that I can."

"Truer words were never spoken," Derek replied, dipping her backwards, making her burst into laughter again.

* * *

"Baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby no," a high-pitched voice wailed from the end of the hall.

"Have they found a cure for Bieber fever yet?" Karev inquired. "That's a disease no parent should have to hear their child suffer from."

Dr. Santos, the head of Pediatrics, chuckled. "The statistics are quite alarming. Every day one in four preteen girls is stricken with Bieber fever."

He patted Alex on the shoulder. Changing the subject, he observed, "You're doing a great job here, son. I'm impressed. It's rare to see someone with such drive and passion in this field. You keep it up; you're going to have my job one day."

As his boss walked away, Alex smiled at himself. Hopkins was an amazing place to work. The hours were long, the workload was never ending, but it was worth every second. He got to scrub in on surgeries he'd never even dreamed of before.

As much as he loved Hopkins, he still missed the folks at Seattle. He checked in with Meredith and Robbins every week or so. Everyone seemed to be healing and getting better. Although Robbins hinted that Sloan was having a difficult time dealing with his grief. He'd even called up Avery to see how he was doing at Tulane. Alex had been shocked to learn that he'd married Kepner and that they were expecting a baby in February.

The beep of his pager broke through his thoughts. After glancing at the 911 page, he rushed off to help with the emergency.

* * *

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way," Arizona and Callie harmonized together, clapping three times. "Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A."

Arizona sat on the couch with Callie, eating pizza and drinking beer. In an effort to cheer her up, Callie had planned an all-night marathon of season two of Friends. It was definitely working. A relaxing evening of vegging out was exactly what Arizona needed after the day she'd had.

First, she'd gone for a follow up visit to the doctor alone because Callie had an emergency surgery. The news hadn't been good. Although her leg was stronger, it was not likely that she'd regain full strength. Her doctor had advised her to get fitted for a cane. The one she was using now wasn't good enough for permanent use.

Then, she'd received a call from Alex. He'd talked on and on about Hopkins and how much he loved it. She'd given him her blessing to go, but she'd secretly hoped he would stay. Seattle could use more surgeons like him.

Returning her focus to the show, she watched Joey and Chandler flipping a coin to choose between ducks and clowns.

"Ducks is heads, because ducks have heads," Joey reasoned.

"What kind of scary-ass clowns came to your birthday party?" Chandler quipped.

Arizona laughed out loud, almost spitting out the beer she'd gulped. Taking Callie's hand, she squeezed it tightly. Tonight she was going to enjoy her wife's company. She could break the bad news to her tomorrow.

* * *

"Hey I just met you and this is crazy, but here's my number so call me maybe." April sang to herself as she worked in the kitchen of her new house. Why wouldn't that song get out of her head? It was driving her crazy.

Hearing a whistle, she turned around to see a paint-speckled Jackson. He must have finished painting upstairs. Proud of her own work in the kitchen, she smiled and commented, "It looks good in here doesn't it?"

Jackson smirked, closing the distance between them. "Actually, my wife, I was noticing something else that looks even better."

April couldn't help grinning like a fool. _My wife_. She loved it when he called her his wife. Or Mrs. Avery. In fact, there wasn't much she didn't love about him. It hadn't taken long to realize that her feelings for him were stronger than friendship. She was very much in love with him.

"You have paint all over you," she noted. Slowly rubbing her hands down his chest, her voice deepened as she whispered, "This shirt is completely ruined. I think you should take it off."

Jackson readily complied with her request. Looking down at his pants, he muttered in fake consternation, "Damn, my jeans have paint on them too. Should I take them off as well?"

Wrapping her arms around his neck, April nodded, "Mm-hm."


	5. Chapter 5

**Year 2012**

Hearing a string of muttered curses coming from the nursery, April yawned as she walked over and peeked inside. She watched as Jackson tried to put together the baby's crib.

"It might help to use the directions," April pointed out.

"I'm a doctor. I put people back together for a living. I don't need any damn instructions," Jackson muttered as he roughly jostled the parts of the crib.

"Jackson, don't worry about this now. It's two in the morning. Come back to bed," she coaxed.

"Our baby will be here in less than a month and I haven't put together half this crap," he said, motioning towards the boxes that contained the changing table, swing, and high chair. "I need to finish this, but you go on back to bed."

She walked further inside the room, ignoring his command. Taking a seat in the rocking chair, April rubbed her stomach as she rocked back and forth. The baby enjoyed kicking at this time of night so she would be just as awake in bed as she would be in here.

April couldn't keep a bubble of laughter from escaping her lips. When Jackson looked at her questioningly, she explained, "Usually, our roles are in reverse. I'm usually the one that's freaking out."

"I'm not freaking out."

"Really? Cause I think attempting to put together an entire nursery at two in the morning on Christmas Day suggests otherwise."

"OK, maybe I'm a little freaked out," Jackson admitted, dropping the screwdriver. "I've just never been completely responsible for another human being before. What if I totally screw this kid up?"

"Not gonna happen. That's why it takes two people to make a baby. It takes two people to raise him. What we each lack, the other one of us will make up for. Together we'll be unstoppable!" April exclaimed, a little too cheerfully for two in the morning.

Smiling, Jackson stood up and grabbed her hand to pull her up from the chair. He kissed her and said, "All right, let's go back to bed. I can work on this tomorrow."

* * *

"Baby, baby, baby," Sofia kept repeating. Her daughter was beyond ecstatic about getting a baby doll for Christmas. She'd played with it for almost two straight hours.

This Christmas was a little mellower than the ones in the past. Christmas was one of Callie's favorite holidays so Arizona usually went all out on decorating their apartment, baking cookies, and buying lots of presents. Given the events of this past year, it hadn't felt right to make a huge deal out of it. If it weren't for Sofia, they probably wouldn't have done anything at all.

The limitations of using a cane didn't sit well with Arizona. Not one to be overly self-conscious, Arizona's self-esteem had taken a nosedive after the accident. They'd had many long conversations about how Arizona perceived herself.

On her leg, Arizona did have some visible and prominent scarring. She didn't wear shorts or skirts anymore because of it. There was also the fact that Callie had to help her out a lot more than usual. Picking up bags, carrying Sofia, and driving were just a few of the things that Arizona couldn't do independently. This didn't faze Callie at all. She was just glad her wife was alive. But, Arizona brought up her frustrations with her lack of independence every single day. After almost seven months, Callie was getting a little tired of hearing about it.

All of a sudden, Callie heard the shattering of a plate and an exasperated, "Crap!"

Getting to her feet, she saw Arizona trying to bend over to pick up the broken ceramic and slices of ham.

"Here let me do it," Callie said, scooping to pick up the pieces.

"I'm not a damn baby. I can clean up after myself." Arizona grumbled.

"I know. I just don't want Sofia to walk over here and accidentally cut herself."

"Of course, how in the world could a feeble cripple like me manage to keep a toddler out of harm's way?"

"That's not what I'm implying Arizona. It's just I can clean this mess up faster and easier than you can right now. It's Christmas. Are we really going to go through all this again?"

"I wouldn't want you to have to suffer with me on your favorite holiday. I think I'll go for a walk."

"Arizona…"

Callie's plea was ignored as Arizona opened the apartment door and left. Callie felt like her marriage was slipping and that if they didn't do something about it quick, she might lose Arizona for good.

* * *

"That was delicious," Addison said, finishing the lobster and steak Mark had made. "By the way, thank you for my watch. I love it."

"No problem," Mark replied, picking up plates off the dining table. "I'm glad you like it."

Grabbing her own plate, Addison followed Mark into the kitchen. "So I've made a decision," she began. "I'm leaving LA and moving back to Manhattan with Henry. You remember Dr. Cox? He's selling his practice and I'm buying it."

Mark looked at her, surprised. "Manhattan? Any particular reason why you decided to move back?"

"My family's there. I want my son to grow up around his grandfather and Uncle Archer."

"That makes sense," Mark noted.

Drying the dish he handed to her, Addison suggested, "Why don't you come back to Manhattan? You could join my practice. Get away from all the bad memories this place has."

Mark shook his head. "I've thought about moving to New York or even Miami, but I've got Sofia. There's no way I could leave without my baby girl. She's the only thing that really matters to me now."

"Maybe you could convince Arizona and Callie to come up to New York?"

Snorting, Mark replied, "I think the last thing they want to do is to pack up and move across the country with a toddler."

* * *

Christmas had never been the most wonderful time of the year for him. In fact, he had intended to work over the holidays, but had been railroaded by Webber and Bailey. They had not so subtly hinted that he should catch a flight to Minnesota and visit his wife. He had. Now, here he was sitting alone in her apartment, drinking gin, and not watching an episode of Dirty Jobs.

He should have called Cristina beforehand, but he thought it would be romantic to drop in unexpectedly. She didn't celebrate Christmas and neither did he really, but he thought it would be nice to spend some time alone with his wife since few people scheduled surgeries on Christmas. Apparently, his wife did though. She had back-to-back surgeries and he'd only had a chance to grab a quick lunch with her in the two days he'd been here.

Hearing his cell phone ring, he reached for it quickly, hoping that Cristina might make it home early after all. "Hello," he answered.

"Hi Owen, it's Teddy. Merry Christmas!"

As he heard the sound of her voice, his heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. "Merry Christmas, Teddy. How's MEDCOM?" he asked.

"It's fantastic! You were right. This place is perfect for me."

"Glad to hear it."

"What's up with you?"

"Not much. Just waiting for Cristina to come home."

"Oh, I better let you go if you have plans with Yang."

"No, she won't be home for a while. I actually wouldn't mind talking for a little longer," Owen confessed, not wanting to sit in an empty apartment and ruminate over the doubts he had about his marriage.

* * *

Finally able to take a break after making rounds, Alex grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down in the doctors' lounge. Bored, he looked for something to read. For a hospital as nice as Hopkins, all their magazines were woefully out of date. He chose one that looked somewhat interesting and flipped through it as he sipped his coffee and munched on a donut.

His hand froze as his eyes settled on a Bethany Whisper ad. His ex-wife, Izzie, lay propped on one elbow flaunting her generous curves. Years ago, she'd said that most of it was airbrushed. That had been a damn lie. She was just as hot in real life as in this picture.

Whenever he thought about her, he remembered his anger at her leaving. But he also remembered the good times they'd had together and how much he'd loved her. He'd never loved anyone the way he'd loved her. Harrumphing, he thought about the good that had done him. He sure as hell wouldn't fall for someone again the way he had fallen for her. No one would ever have that kind of power over him again. He'd let her in, trusted her and she'd up and left him.

Even though she'd put him through some real crappy stuff, there had been good times, _really_ good times. Their wedding had been one of the best days of his life. He just wished their happiness could have lasted. He missed the way she could always make him laugh. He missed waking up to her in the morning. Hell, he even missed the way she would compulsively bake whenever she was worried.

He should call her up sometime. Just to make sure she was doing all right.

* * *

Meredith paced back and forth, wringing her hands. _I don't like this. I don't like this_ , she kept thinking to herself.

"Mere, talk to me," Derek pleaded.

"I don't think you should do it. There are just too many risks Derek. If something happened to you…I can't raise Zola on my own. I was raised by a single mother. You can see how I turned out. Do you really want that for Zola?"

"You're not your mother. Besides, deep brain stimulation has a low mortality rate. It's less than one percent."

"You might not die, but there are other risks. You could have paralysis, hemorrhaging, a stroke, speech problems," Meredith listed.

"But if I don't have the surgery, then I know for sure that I'll never get to operate again. No one wants a neurosurgeon with a shaky hand."

"I've already lost my sister this year. The last thing I need is to lose my husband. I can be the breadwinner for this family. I don't care. Not having you in my life is nonnegotiable."

"Well, not being a surgeon anymore is nonnegotiable for me. I haven't operated in almost seven months. I'm already out of practice. If I wait any longer to get this surgery, then my skills will get even worse. I'm a surgeon. It's who I am. I can't just leave a career I've spent two decades building when there's a chance that I could get better."

"It's Christmas morning. Zola's going to wake up soon and open her presents. Can we talk about this later?" Meredith begged.

"Fine, but we'll need to make a decision soon."


	6. Chapter 6

**Year 2013**

"Damn," Derek muttered, as he ripped off his gloves, frustrated that it had been completely pointless to scrub in. Dr. Nevin, a neurosurgeon that Hunt had hired while Derek recovered from his injury, was performing the operation instead of him.

Today, he'd been all prepared to do a microdiscectomy, a minimally invasive and relatively simple procedure. He'd probably done a hundred of them throughout his career. But Nevin had gone behind his back and cast doubts in his patient's mind. He'd told her about his plane injury and the tremors in his hand. Of course, Nevin had failed to mention the surgery he'd had to fix the problem or the fact that he'd fully recovered.

Derek went looking for his wife. He found her talking to a patient. He signaled at her and waited patiently for her to walk over to him.

"What's wrong?" Meredith asked, noting the aggravated expression on his face.

"Nevin screwed me over again."

Sighing, Meredith said, "He's not fooling anyone. Even the nurses are aware of what he's doing. Nevin obviously wants to take over as Head of Neuro."

Sweeping his hand through his hair, Derek groaned, "I'd really love to punch that asshole. I've been cleared for surgery for an entire month and I've only operated 10 times. All good outcomes."

"Maybe you should talk to Hunt?" Meredith suggested.

"And tell him what? That he's mean and he stole my lunch money? This isn't grade school. I can't just run and tell the teacher when I have a problem."

"Then, what are you going to do?"

"I don't have a clue."

* * *

A 410 area code flashed on her phone. Pressing the Accept button, she cautiously answered, "Hello."

"Hey Iz, it's me Alex."

She'd recognize her ex-husband's voice anywhere. "Umm, hey."

An awkward silence followed. Izzie didn't know what to say or even what to think. The last time she'd seen him he told her that he deserved better than her. She was currently torn between anger, hurt, and a smidge of guilt about the way things ended between them.

She heard him clear his throat before saying, "I was just wondering how you were doing."

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?"

"Good. Real good in fact. I got a Peds fellowship at Hopkins."

As bitter as she still was about their break up, Izzie couldn't help but smile. She always knew he'd end up in Peds. He always acted as if he was some heartless badass, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Sure, he was a jerk more often than not, but he really cared about his patients, especially the ones that didn't have a voice.

"That's great Alex. I'm glad to hear it."

"What about you? Where are you working?"

"I'm working at a free clinic in Philadelphia. I had a fellowship at Penn Pres, but it wasn't for me. I left after six months."

"Yeah, that's good Iz. You've always been into that kind of thing." Alex paused for a moment, and then said, "Are you feeling all right? I mean the cancer hasn't come back?"

"No. I'm still in remission. Alex, I have to get ready for work. It was good hearing from you," Izzie said politely.

"Yeah, I'm glad everything's working out for you. Do you mind if I call you again?"

"Alex, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

* * *

Carrying the basket of laundry into the living room, April smiled at the sight that met her eyes. Jackson was sprawled on the couch watching TV while their two month old, Cayden, slept serenely on his chest. Remembering how nervous Jackson had been about becoming a dad, she knew now that his worries were completely unfounded. Even though he was an infant, Cayden clearly adored his father. Whenever he heard Jackson's voice, his little eyes would look in all directions, searching for him. When she wasn't feeding him, he preferred being held by his father. Whenever he was upset, Jackson was the one who could calm him down the fastest.

Because she was on maternity leave, she got to spend lots of time with her son and she loved every second of it. Her little guy was amazing. It saddened her that she would have to go back to work in less than a month. She worked in the ER at the Memorial Medical Center. It was a nice place to work and her coworkers were friendly, but every time she thought about being away from Cayden for twelve to fourteen hours a day, her heart broke.

Jackson looked in her direction and smiled at her. "He's so peaceful when he sleeps. When he's awake, he's loud and squawky like his mother."

"Hey," April said, throwing a pair of his boxers at him.

Jackson removed the underwear off his son's head and threw them back at her.

"I'm going to miss him like crazy when I go back to work," April lamented.

Rubbing circles on his son's back, Jackson carefully considered what she'd just said. "You don't _have_ to go back to work. You could always take a few extra months off to study for the Boards. I'm making enough money that you can if you want. Why don't you take a few more months off?"

"I don't know. I'd really love to, but…I don't know."

* * *

"Can you believe that she's almost two?" Callie asked, watching her daughter play on the mall's indoor playground for toddlers. "It just seemed like yesterday we took her home from the hospital."

Mark shook his head in wonder. "They grow up so fast. Before we know it, she'll be spending all her time at the mall and worshiping her generation's Justin Bieber."

Callie groaned, "I am not looking forward to that. She'll probably have your taste in music."

Mark took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Torres, I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure, shoot."

"You know how Addison's moved to New York? I was thinking I'd like to do the same. I'd never leave Sofia so I know it wouldn't be just me moving, but you and Arizona too."

"Why do you want to move back?"

"I can't move on here. Every corner I turn it's like Little Grey's there, haunting me. It hurts to be reminded of what I lost everyday…Would you and Arizona at least think about it?"

Callie swallowed, "Arizona and I aren't doing so well…If we got a new start somewhere, then we could possibly fix our relationship…So maybe…Maybe."

* * *

"Owen, it was so insane. Here I was for sure that this man was going to die, but then I remembered something I'd read in med school and I reached out and tickled his throat. In less than one minute, I got him breathing again. I brought him back to life from the brink of death." Hitting the couch, Cristina grinned. "I really am awesome."

"Tickling? Where did you get that idea?"

"It was something I read for my History of Medicine class. It was this 18th century study done by a society in Amsterdam on how to resuscitate drowned victims. I thought it was worth a try."

Owen pulled her in closer and kissed the top of her head. Squeezing her tight, he whispered, "I've missed you so much."

Cristina had missed him too. So much in fact, that she'd taken an extended weekend to spend more time with him. Plus, she had something she wanted to discuss with him.

Facing Owen, Cristina said, "Me too. Listen, I've been asking around the hospital and they have an opening for a trauma surgeon. It'd be a decrease in pay, but I think you'd love it at Mayo. I've talked to the Chief of Surgery and he agreed to an interview. We could look for a house. I could try to learn how to cook."

Her news was met with silence and a stony expression. Pressing her fingernails into her palms, she worked on keeping her breathing steady and preventing any worry from spreading to her face.

"You can't go around making those types of decisions for me Cristina."

"I'm sorry," Cristina said, slightly affronted. "I thought you'd want to live with your wife. Last year you asked me to be your person. Well, here I am, trying to be your person."

Owen massaged his jaw. "I know, but it might be too late."


	7. Chapter 7

**Year 2013**

Alex's fingers seemed to have a life of their own as they dialed Izzie's phone number. He wasn't sure why he was calling her. The last time they had spoken, she sounded like she really didn't want to hear from him again.

His phone had started dialing and he considered hanging up, but after three rings, he heard Izzie say, "Hello?"

"Hello," he heard again, realizing that he'd never responded to her greeting.

"Uh, hi Iz."

"Alex, I thought we decided you shouldn't call again."

" _You_ decided that," Alex mentioned bitterly.

"Well, _you_ decided that you deserved better than me."

"What did you expect me to say Izzie? You left me. I had no idea where you were. How you were doing. I spent months worrying about you. Then, all of a sudden, you return and expect everything to go back to normal. Was I supposed to kiss your feet and thank you for coming back to me?"

"No one could accuse you of doing that. No, instead you slept with someone else. Then, you waited until I got my results before you really twisted the knife in. You told me how much you love me, how I've made you into a better person and then you told me to go and not come back. You were so concerned with what you deserve that you didn't think for one second that that crappy goodbye wasn't what _I_ deserved. I had cancer. I think I was allowed to be a little freaked out."

"So freaked out, you forget how to dial a person's number and tell 'em that you're safe?"

"I was angry. I thought you had played some part in me losing my job." Izzie paused. "I'm sorry I did that to you."

"Well, I'm sorry I said goodbye to you the way I did."

* * *

"I'm so terrible at pool. It's not even funny," Teddy admitted.

Owen watched as the green ball he'd hit bounced off the side of the wall and rolled back to the middle of the table. "I, on the other hand, excel at this game."

"We're surgeons, trained to be precise and detail-oriented. You'd think we'd be better at pool. But, we're not. We really suck."

"Speak for yourself. I'm just a little rusty." He laughed when he caught Teddy's side eye. "Maybe pool isn't our sport after all. Why don't you find us a table? I'll grab us a couple of beers."

Owen walked to the bar, thinking how great it was to see Teddy again, in person. They talked off and on. That's how they knew they'd both be attending the same conference in Kansas City. Owen was really enjoying seeing her again.

A few hours and drinks later, the bar of the hotel was getting ready to close. Owen stood up and offered a hand to Teddy. A little unsteady on her feet, Teddy plunged forward and Owen quickly grabbed her to keep her from face planting on the floor. "You OK?" he asked.

"Yeah," she whispered. She reached up to cup his cheek, using her thumb to stroke his jaw line. "Do you want to come up to my room?"

Owen hated to admit that he was tempted. After Cristina's last visit in March and his refusal to move to Minnesota, their relationship had progressively gotten worse. But, it didn't matter. He still loved Cristina and he wouldn't do this to her a second time. He gently grabbed Teddy's hand and pulled it away from his face.

* * *

Meredith was slightly out of breath as she tried to keep pace with her husband. Derek roughly shoved his box into the back of the car and slammed the door. "Damn…damn, damn, damn," he said, kicking the back tire.

"I'll drive," Meredith said as she walked to the driver's side and got in the car.

Climbing in, Derek glanced at her and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

Meredith was so angry she didn't even attempt to put the car in gear. Whipping her head around, she snapped, "Really? I think we need to talk. You just lost your job because you acted like an immature teenage boy."

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

At this point, Meredith didn't give a flying flip what he did or did not want to talk about. She continued, "You should have just ignored Nevin. You knew he was trying to make you mad that he was goading you. And you let him do it."

"Meredith…" Derek warned.

"But shoving him up against the wall and threatening him? Did you really think Owen would let you stay after that? We're lucky he let you resign. Why'd you do it Derek?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Then, talk to me! Tell me why," Meredith practically shouted.

"I was tired of feeling powerless. He's taken so much from me these past few months – my patients, my surgeries, my job. I just couldn't take it anymore."

Meredith took his hand and laced his fingers with her own. Squeezing his hand, she said, "You're still a great surgeon. He can't take that away from you. We'll look for a place that will allow you to operate again."

* * *

"Honey," Jackson called through the bathroom door. Refreshing the page on his phone, he smiled when April's results popped up on the screen. "You passed! You're a Board certified surgeon."

April opened the door. Jackson immediately noticed that her eyes were dewy. "April, this is great news. You passed. What's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant," April said, biting her lip and averting her eyes.

He stammered, "Wh…what? H…How? We have a five month old."

"I know. It's way too soon to have another baby."

"You're on the Pill. How did you get pregnant?"

April blushed guiltily, "I'm not the best about taking them the same time every day. I try to take them in the morning, but with Cayden and studying for the Boards I sometimes don't remember to take them until the evening."

Shaking his head, he said, "You've stayed home the past five months. How busy could you be that you don't have time to swallow a pill? Besides, you're a doctor. You know how important it is to take the Pill the same time every day."

"I'm a trauma surgeon. Not a gynecologist or a family practice physician. I spent most of my life a virgin. It's not like I'm some expert on birth control. There has been no need for me to take anything until now. I'd really appreciate it if you cut me a little slack."

"Cut you some slack? This pregnancy couldn't come at a worse time. Do you realize our kids are going to be barely a year apart?"

"Yes, Jackson. I can add." Pausing to take a breath, Jackson watched as her face softened. "We made a baby. It can't be all that bad?"

"It's pretty damn bad April. You start your new job next month. We're both going to be working long hours. We'll be lucky to spend enough time with Cayden much less a second kid. This whole thing was preventable. It was so stupid of you to let this happen."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jackson immediately regretted them. April's face fell. Blinking back tears, she straightened her shoulders and hissed, "Get out." Jackson could see the anger rising in her when he reached out to comfort her. Smacking his hands away, she said, "Don't you dare touch me. Just leave. Now!"

As he left their bedroom, Jackson realized this was the first time in all the years he'd known her that they'd had a real fight. He stopped by the linen closet to grab a blanket and prepared to spend the night sleeping on the couch.

* * *

"Wow, Addison. This place is lovely," Arizona gushed as they walked around Addison's offices. Callie watched her wife's eyes sparkle as she looked around the place. A couple weeks ago, Addison had invited them to visit Manhattan for a week. Needing a break from Seattle, the offer had come at the perfect time.

When Mark had discussed moving to New York, Callie had truly considered it. But she'd eventually chickened out and never even broached the topic with Arizona. Although they were visiting Addison's practice, Callie had no plans of joining it. Addison, on the other hand, had some ulterior motives.

"I could use two or three more doctors especially a pediatrician," Addison hinted.

Callie was taken aback when Arizona said, "Callie and I will definitely talk about it. Wouldn't you like to move to New York, Callie?"

"Umm…" She was at a loss for words. She really hadn't expected this turn in the conversation.

Addison, recognizing the awkward tension in the room, said, "I forgot to tell the carpenter something. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Well," Arizona prompted. "What do you think?"

"I mean it would be a big change. The whole move, Mark, Sofia…"

Arizona rolled her eyes. "Mark doesn't want to stay in Seattle. The only reason he's there is because of Sofia."

"I don't want to move across the country just for Mark."

"What about for us? I know I haven't been a joy to deal with this past year. I've kind of been a bitch." Scrunching up her face, she said throatily, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for the way I've treated you."

Callie wrapped her arms around her as Arizona cried. Callie said soothingly, "I know you are. It's OK. It's OK."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanksgiving Day, 2013**

* * *

"I think we should all say what we're thankful for this year," Arizona suggested.

"I'll go first. I'm thankful for…my beautiful, healthy daughter who is growing bigger and brighter with each passing day, my wonderful life with Arizona, our freaking awesome apartment, and this fabulous wine," Callie said, raising her glass in the air.

"I guess I'll go next," Mark said, needing to express his gratitude to the women at the table. "I'm thankful for my little princess, Sofia. And I'm thankful that you two made the move to New York. I know you didn't have to, so I just want to say thank you."

Callie reached over and squeezed his hand. "I'm glad we moved. Our lives are better now because of it."

"Sofia, what are you thankful for?" Arizona asked.

"Tatoes," Sofia said, trying to reach for the bowl of mashed potatoes.

Mark laughed, "That's my girl. She knows what's truly important." Glancing at Arizona, he bumped her with his elbow and said, "We all shared. It's your turn now."

"This one's easy. I'm thankful for my new job. I absolutely love it. I'm also thankful for forgiveness. I was a total pill for a while and Callie stuck by my side, for better or worse. I'm so blessed to have her in my life," Arizona said while staring into Callie's eyes.

Mark felt like he was intruding on their private moment. He turned to Sofia and wiped off the excess potatoes from her face, then scooped her up and took her to the living room.

As he played with Sofia and her dolls, he tried his best to stem the jealousy that was rearing its ugly head. He was glad for Callie and Arizona. He really was. After all that they'd been through, they deserved to be happy and stay happy. He just wished he had half of Arizona's cojones. If he did, then he would have owned up to his mistakes. Asked Lexie for forgiveness. And gotten his happily ever after.

But he hadn't and there was no point in dwelling on it. He had things to be thankful for - Sofia, moving to New York and one more thing he hadn't mentioned to Callie and Arizona. He had called up Sloan and had plans to eat lunch with her tomorrow.

* * *

"I don't know if Jackson has told you this, but we have a family tradition at Thanksgiving," said Catherine Avery. "We all write one thing that we're thankful for on slips of paper. Then, we mix them up in a basket. Each person takes one out, reads it, and tries to figure out who wrote it."

"That sounds fun. I'll grab some paper and pens," April said excitedly, purposely ignoring Jackson's annoyed expression.

At almost seven months pregnant, traveling was again not an option for April during the holidays. Jackson's family had decided to visit during Thanksgiving while her family would come down for Christmas. April felt a little intimidated that three Averys were spending Thanksgiving weekend in her home. Needless to say, she was eager to please them and make a good impression, especially with Jackson's grandparents.

After everyone had written and folded up their pieces of paper, Catherine walked around the table and collected them. She grabbed one off the top and read, "I'm thankful that Jackson finally got his head out of his, I'm not going to read the rest of it, but I'm sure you can finish it in your head. Considering the language, I think it's a safe bet to say Harper wrote that one."

"Damn straight I did," said Harper, flinching slightly when his wife swatted his shoulder. "It's my turn to read one. OK. Here goes. I'm thankful that both of my sons are healthy. Well, the only people in this room that could have two sons are Jackson and April. This sounds like something a mom would write. My guess is April."

April smiled at her grandfather-in-law. "That's me." Sticking her hand in the basket, she pulled out the next slip of paper. "I am thankful that I get to spend time with my precious grandbaby." Smiling, April said, "Hmm. I wonder who that could be? Catherine?"

Catherine, who had Cayden on her hip, grinned back at her and said, "Guilty as charged. I've already gone. Jackson, it's your turn."

Opening the paper, Jackson chuckled as he read, "I'm thankful that I haven't killed my husband yet. Grandma, you're the only woman in the world that has enough patience to live with Grandpa."

Elizabeth Avery took the last piece of paper, saying, "We all know this is Jackson's, but I'm curious to know what he's thankful for this year…How sweet. I'm thankful for my wife and sons. I don't know what I'd do without them."

April smiled and accepted the kiss that Jackson placed on her cheek. Although in her mind, she still had doubts. They had dealt with the initial shock of her pregnancy, but she worried that he was just trying to placate her. That he didn't want the baby.

* * *

"Now that Zola's getting older, I was thinking we should probably start a Thanksgiving tradition, like saying what we're thankful for." When everyone groaned, Meredith said, "I'll start. I am thankful for Derek and Zola. And I'm thankful for my new job at Brigham where I'm currently kicking medical ass." Nudging Derek, she said, "It's your turn."

"I'm thankful for my new job at Harvard. It's really great. I'm starting a new trial on Alzheimer's. Everything's going really well…You're next Hunt."

Cristina watched as Owen formulated his words in his head. Feeling nervous and insecure about their relationship, she hoped he would say something that would make her feel better.

"I'm thankful for the moments I get to spend with Cristina."

Nope. That didn't make her feel better. She'd given him an opportunity to spend more "moments" with her, but he had flat out refused to move to Minnesota with her. Feeling catty, she spit out, "I'm thankful that my husband hasn't cheated on me this year."

* * *

Cristina and Meredith were lying on the living room floor while Derek and Owen had gone for a drive. Feeling guilty, Cristina turned to her best friend and said, "I'm sorry I was a bitch at dinner."

"It's OK. I should have known better than to try to introduce some cheesy ass tradition."

"I think Owen is cheating on me," Cristina blurted.

"What? Didn't you say at dinner that you were happy that he hadn't cheated on you?"

"Oh, he's not having sex with anyone. I just feel like he's cheating on me emotionally."

"What makes you think that?"

 _Because, I've become a crazy stalker and have viewed his bills online_. "I happened to see his phone bill the last time I was in Seattle. He had like twenty calls from area code 210. I'm not sure which city that is. I didn't look it up or anything." _It was from San Antonio_. "Their phone calls last for like two or three hours."

"You should ask him about it. Maybe the calls are for professional reasons. Or maybe it's time you two got a divorce. You shouldn't have to work this hard at your marriage."

"Mere, I know you don't like Owen, but he's my person. He has been for a long time. It's really hard to let go of someone you love this much."

"You're right. I don't care for Owen, but I care about you. You deserve so much better."

* * *

"Alex, what are you doing here?" asked Izzie, surprised to see her ex-husband at the free clinic where she worked.

"When we talked last week, you said you weren't going home for Thanksgiving. I didn't want you to have to spend the holiday alone. Do you want to grab a bite to eat and catch a movie or something?"

Izzie smiled at how awkward and uncomfortable he appeared. It reminded her of their first date years ago. Except she hadn't thought it was cute back then.

"Actually, I bought stuff to make my own Thanksgiving dinner." Not sure if she was going to regret this, she offered, "You're welcome to come over to my apartment and eat, if you want."

Alex shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. That sounds fine."

Hours later, Izzie and Alex were sitting on her couch. They were sitting only a few inches apart from each other and his presence was wreaking havoc on her. She hadn't been in a relationship with anyone since him. She hadn't even had sex with anyone since him. Izzie told herself it was because she needed to focus on her career, but deep down she knew that she would feel guilty if she started a relationship with someone new while she was still in love with someone else.

"Everyone seems to love you at your job Iz. It's always been that way. When you left Seattle, people really missed you. I missed you," Alex admitted.

"I missed you too. I'm really glad you came tonight." Running her fingers through her hair, she laughed and said, "One Thanksgiving my mom had over this guy she was dating. He was a bit of a nerd and he made us count our blessings or whatever. Like I'm so blessed that…Then, you'd say whatever you were thankful for. Did your family ever do that?"

Alex snorted. "No way. We didn't even eat at the same table on Thanksgiving."

Against her better judgment, Izzie scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his knee. "It was totally cheesy to 'count our blessings' but it was kind of nice. It made me feel warm inside. Try it. Say something you're thankful for," Izzie prompted.

Rolling his eyes, Alex said, "I'm thankful that I kick ass at Hopkins every day and twice on Sundays."

"I'm thankful that my long Rapunzel-like locks have returned," Izzie joked.

Turning serious, Alex said, "I'm thankful you answer my phone calls."

"Me too," Izzie whispered as Alex lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers.


	9. Chapter 9

**Year 2014**

* * *

Standing in a department store, Mark eyed the hideous fuchsia shag rug that his daughter, Sloan, was raving about.

"Isn't this perfect for my new apartment? Purple is my favorite color and I want to have it in every room," Sloan gushed.

Addison gave him a sideways glance. Like him, she felt that Sloan's new apartment was turning into a version of Barney's playroom. He had invited her to go shopping with them because she knew more about decorating than he would ever know. Besides, he enjoyed spending time with her. Always had. She was funny, smart, and had a quick wit. Addison understood who he was and liked him despite it.

"When decorating, you should really have two or three colors in mind. Monochromatic or one-colored rooms can be a little much for the eye. We can have pops of purple, but have other parts of the room gray and black or navy and cream," Addison suggested.

Sloan nodded her head. "That makes sense, but I really love this," she said, grazing her fingers along the rug.

"I don't think she takes a hint very well," Mark whispered into Addison's ear.

"I wonder where she got that from," Addison teased.

"I get that you were trying to brush me off. I just don't care. I know you can't resist me forever. It's only a matter of time," he said, winking at her.

Rolling her eyes, Addison replied, "Not going to happen."

* * *

"Meredith, what's wrong?" Derek asked, wrapping his arms around her.

She lifted up the stuffed animal. "I was going through some boxes I should have unpacked months ago and found this. Lexie gave it to Zola for her first birthday."

"Yeah, I'd forgotten," said Derek, placing a kiss on the back of her neck and rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

"I'll go for weeks not feeling sad or really thinking about her and then all of a sudden I'm hit with it. I feel guilty that I lived when she had to die. She never got married or had kids. Her entire life was basically school and work."

"She had Mark."

"We know how long that lasted," Meredith replied. "I wish I had spent more time with her, gotten to know her better. Now, I'll never get that chance."

Thinking for a second, Derek remembered Meredith's other sister. "You still have Melanie, Melissa, what's her name?"

"Molly. We talked at the funeral, but not much after that."

"Maybe you should try to build a relationship with her. Reach out. Get to know her better. Doesn't she have a kid around Zola's age?"

"She does. How would I go about getting to know her better? It was hard enough getting to know Lexie and we had a profession in common. I don't know what I'd talk about with Molly. She's so much younger than I am. She had a normal childhood."

"Tell her she's one of the few family members you have left and you don't want to miss out on knowing her. It shouldn't be that hard to find something to talk about. At the very least, you two could brag about your kids."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to call her," Meredith conceded.

* * *

April brushed the hair out of her face as she plopped back onto her side of the bed. Hearing the rough breathing of her husband, she laughed and turned to look at him. Even though they had known each other for years, her breath still caught when she looked at him. He was just so…yummy.

Jackson laughed. "This kind of reminds me of San Francisco, you know? We're in a hotel room. You were on top. You're probably going to subtly hint that I should leave any minute now."

She elbowed him in the side. "Very funny. But you're right this is kind of like that night except you did the jumping this time."

"It's been two months. You're lucky we made it to the room."

Cuddling closer to him, she ran her fingers up and down his chest. "It was fun to have a date night. I wish your mom lived closer so she could babysit more often."

"Boston's close enough," Jackson muttered. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Why'd you choose me that night?"

"You didn't deny that you were my boyfriend."

"What?" Jackson asked, confused.

"When that Kevin guy asked if you were my boyfriend, you didn't say no."

"That's why I got laid?"

"Pretty much. I've been attracted to you since the moment I met you, but I used to think I never had a chance. When you didn't seem weirded out that Kevin thought we were a couple, I guess I thought maybe I could be with you." Pulling her head away from his chest, April looked at him and asked, "Why'd you sleep with me?"

"Because I was getting to do what had been on my mind for months," he admitted.

"Months?" April asked, skeptically.

"Yeah, right around the time we decided to move out of Meredith's house. I remember being really pissed that you asked Karev to live with us."

"Why didn't you say or do anything?"

"You were a virgin."

"Which you had told me that I should be ashamed of," April reminded him, remembering the day when everyone had found out she was still a virgin. It had all been so very embarrassing and her feelings had been bruised when Jackson had said that in front of the other residents.

"I was a jerk back then. Besides, I like that I'm the only one."

"Me too," April whispered. Moving back to her side of the bed, she said, "We should get some sleep."

"Yeah, we should get some sleep," Jackson repeated.

She tried to relax, but she found her fingers fiddling with the bed sheet.

"Here or…?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah, yeah," she said. After a moment, she added, "Or we could go home."

"You know what? We can go home if you want. Yeah. You know what? We'll go. I know that you won't be able to sleep unless you're sure that the boys are safe and sound in their beds."

Bending to kiss him softly, she said, "Thank you for understanding. You sure it's OK?"

"Yeah," Jackson nodded.

* * *

"Give me a shot of tequila. Make it two," Cristina said, not intending to end this night sober. She didn't want to remember anything about this day ever. Looking down at her finger, she saw that her engagement ring and wedding band were still there. Taking them off, she felt compelled to chuck them across the room, but instead slipped them into her purse.

"Rough day?" asked the stranger sitting next to her.

Cristina looked the man over. He wasn't classically handsome, but attractive nonetheless. He had blonde hair that touched the collar of his shirt, something that Owen would never do. He always kept his hair short and trimmed. Deciding it wouldn't be so bad to spend time with a man who didn't remind her in any way of her ex-husband, she sent him her best flirtatious smile.

"Not anything I want to talk about," she told him truthfully. "But you can buy me my next drink."

"I'd love to. By the way, I'm Marley," he said, holding out his hand.

"Cristina," she said, shaking his hand. "What do you do?"

"I own an eco-friendly sportswear store. What about you? What path have you chosen for yourself?"

 _Oh my gosh, he's a hippie_ , Cristina's mind screamed. "I've chosen to be a cardiothoracic surgeon," she replied, trying to tone down the sarcasm as much as she could.

"Ahh. A doctor. I could tell by your hands that you're a healer."

 _I can tell by your hemp sandals that you worship Brother Eagle and Sister Sky._ Smiling politely, she said, "You know I'm not really in the mood to talk." She placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed it gently. "Why don't we go back to your place and I can show you just how healing my hands can be?" She almost gagged at the utter cheesiness of her own words. There probably wasn't a man on earth who was less her type. But she needed this; she needed a distraction from the suck fest that was currently her life. Fully expecting to take a walk of shame tomorrow morning, Cristina followed Marley back to his place.

* * *

"Alex! Do you want me to make you some breakfast or some coffee before you head out?" Izzie called. He'd been spending every other weekend for the past few months at her place. She tried to get him to leave on Sunday nights, but their conversation always ended with them curled up in bed. She hated that he had to make such a long trip back to Baltimore so early on a Monday morning.

"I'll take some coffee to go," Alex said, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face into his neck.

"I wish you didn't have to go," Izzie confessed.

"So do I." She felt his breath expel against her neck. "Izzie…I still love you. For a long time, I thought I could just shut those feelings off, but I can't. I think I love you even more now than I did five years ago."

Izzie breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. She was glad he was the first to say 'I love you' again. Before she kissed him, she whispered, "I love you too. I never stopped."

A minute later, Alex broke off their kiss. "Marry me."

"What?"

"You heard me. Let's do this again. Let's be us again."

She wanted to. She really, really wanted to say yes. "Alex…"

"We can make it work this time Iz. Maybe have a kid."

"I want two," she heard herself saying. Why wasn't she telling him no? After how badly he had hurt her, why was she seriously considering getting married to him all over again?

"Fine. We'll have two. So what do you say? You wanna do this again?"

"OK."

* * *

"Could I see you in my office?" asked Addison, her tone abrupt and cool.

Arizona swallowed, knowing what this would be in reference to. Her hands trembling, she took her cane and slowly made her way into Addison's office.

"Take a seat," Addison said, gesturing towards a chair before she walked over and closed the door. "We need to talk about what happened to your patient today."

"Look, I know what happened was totally my fault. I will accept whatever consequences you give me. I've already taken myself off the case."

"Unfortunately, the consequences are from the patient's family. They're suing our practice."

Taking a deep breath, Arizona had figured that would happen. "I really can't blame them. If the mom hadn't caught my mistake, her child would have been given an overdose of medication. I've already apologized to both of the parents."

"You apologized?" Addison asked, clearly upset. "Our lawyer is going to kill you for that. When you apologize, you're accepting blame for the event. You're essentially saying that it was your fault."

"It _was_ my fault," Arizona murmured, more to herself than to Addison. She'd never screwed up this bad before. She didn't even know how it happened. Accidentally overdosing a child could have deadly consequences. She knew that, but somehow it had happened anyway. She could possibly lose her job over this. Arizona looked up at the ceiling to keep from crying and making an even bigger fool of herself.

"We'll do our best to settle out of court. If it's brought to trial, you might lose your license."

"Thanks Addison. I…I appreciate what you're doing for me."

"Let's be clear. I'm doing this for the reputation of the practice. Your negligence almost killed a child today. One more mistake and you will have to find employment elsewhere."


	10. Chapter 10

**Year 2014**

* * *

She had never been more beautiful than she was now, in her simple white dress with her long hair lifting and falling with each lilt in the wind. She had looked stunning on their first wedding day too, but as she stood before him today, there was no pallor to her cheeks. Izzie was a picture of health and had been cancer free for a while now.

Taking her hand, he began his vows, "I, Alex, take you, Izzie, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part."

Izzie repeated the officiant's words, "I, Izzie, take you, Alex…"

When they were pronounced man and wife, Alex was more than eager to kiss his bride. His lips captured hers hungrily. Alex knew he had something special with Izzie, something he could not replicate with anyone else. He was determined that their wedding vows would hold this time. They would stick by each other for better, for worse, even if she got sick again, even if he was a jackass again (which would probably happen by the end of the week).

After the ceremony, they walked back to the hotel. They had decided not to make a big deal out of the wedding. They'd done the big wedding with lots of guests before. This time around, they wanted something fun, something simple. That's why he'd suggested going to Mexico. Well, that and the chance to see Izzie in a bikini for a week.

Yes, he decided. Their marriage was going to last this time. He didn't expect it to be easy, nothing that was worth anything ever was, but he'd make certain that he'd hold up his end of the bargain. Til death do them part.

* * *

 _Some willpower I have_ was Addison's first thought on waking up that morning. Lifting the covers, she slid her feet carefully to the floor. As she straightened and stood on her feet, she gasped when she felt a male arm loop around her waist and pull her backwards back onto the bed.

"Mark, it's almost time for work. I need to take a shower and get Henry ready for day care," she said. Although she was having a hard time saying it with conviction, because Mark's hand was inching towards her lower abdomen.

"Mmm, I wouldn't mind a shower," he said, making lazy circles on her skin.

Addison knew that if he joined her in the shower, there was no way they would get to work on time. Removing herself from his embrace reluctantly, she turned and told him firmly, "I'm showering by myself, but you can make breakfast if you want."

"OK, don't be long," he said, giving her a swat on the tush.

As she showered, she thought about last night and sincerely hoped she hadn't made a huge mistake. A part of her loved him, always had. That was why she had given in so easily last night. Well, that and seeing him so vulnerable. Mark was always so cocky, so sure of himself. It had completely thrown her when he'd told her that he hadn't had sex since Lexie died. She had been tempted to think it was all a ruse. Something he said just to get her to sleep with him. But his eyes and his voice had told her differently.

There was no way she would ever date him again, but she had certainly missed Mark's benefits the past few years. It wouldn't hurt to be good friends who were a little something more.

* * *

"Hunt, what in the world do you think you're doing?" Miranda Bailey asked.

"I'm packing," he told her matter-of-factly, taking his diploma off the wall and placing it carefully in a box.

"I have eyes. I can see that. What I want to know is why?"

"I applied for a job in San Antonio and I got it."

"I heard about that. It's a demotion going from Chief to an attending." Her face softened a little. She always put up a tough front, but inside she was as warm and caring as could be. "This isn't about the job, is it? It's about Yang."

Sighing, he stopped packing for a second. "It's certainly a factor. I don't really have a place here anymore. No real reason to stay. Besides you and Webber, everyone has left. It's time for me to move on too…I need to hurry and finish. Webber's itching to get his office back."

Miranda shook her head. "I'm sorry to see you go. You were a good Chief." She walked to the door, then paused and turned. "Divorce is awful. There's no way around it. But for what it's worth, I think you're going to find someone who wants what you want. You'll learn how to be happy."

She gave him a hug, which he returned awkwardly. "Thanks," he said.

"Don't think it escaped my notice that you're moving to the same city as Altman. Tell her I said hello."


	11. Chapter 11

**Year 2014**

* * *

"Arizona," Callie said, touching her shoulder gently. "Do you want something to eat?"

Arizona looked up at Callie as if in a daze. "Hmm," she murmured and then shook her head. "No, I'm good. Go ahead and eat without me. I'm going to finish up some work in the bedroom."

Callie watched her wife walk away. Just when things were starting to get better after the crash, this crap happened. This lawsuit was certainly taking its toll on Arizona. Addison had thought that it could be settled out of court, but at this point, it was looking doubtful. Callie remembered how it felt when Jackson had screwed up on one of her patients and she'd taken the blame. She'd worried that she'd lose her license. Now, Arizona was in a similar situation. Well, pretty close. Jackson had made the mistake in her case, but Arizona had screwed up all by herself. She'd never tell her that, but she had been surprised when her wife had made such a glaring mistake. Callie knew Arizona was a kick ass surgeon, but she'd been completely at fault for what almost happened to that kid.

Not that she would _ever_ say that to her wife. Once you say something like that, you can't unsay it. So she'd been supportive and let Arizona handle it in her own way. Except Arizona wasn't handling it. She wasn't talking about it at all. It was weird and Callie felt like something was off in their relationship.

She couldn't take not discussing their relationship anymore. Getting up, she walked to their bedroom. She turned the knob of the door, but it didn't budge. Knocking, she called, "Hey Arizona, could you open the door? I want to talk."

"Callie, I don't really want to talk right now."

"We don't have to talk…We could just cuddle."

"I just want to be alone."

"You've wanted to be alone for almost two months. I can't make this marriage work all by myself." Taking a deep breath, Callie mentioned something she didn't really want to do, but thought was necessary for her marriage. "I think we should go see a therapist."

The door was unlocked and opened slowly. A flushed and remorseful-looking Arizona stood on the other side. "Let's just start with the cuddling."

* * *

"Zola, Zola, Zola," Meredith called. "It's time for bed."

"No bed," said Zola, turning and running the other direction.

Meredith groaned inwardly. She was too old to be chasing around a three year old. Walking towards the living room, she called out, "Where is Zola? Oh no, I lost Zola. Will I ever find her?"

She turned her head around, looking in every direction while blatantly ignoring Zola's giggles from the corner. Sometimes, if she was patient, Zola would come to her on her own, without all the chasing. She smiled when her daughter did just that. "I'm here Mommy," Zola laughed.

Scooping up her daughter, she headed for the stairs. Derek was working late tonight so it was just her and Zola. It had been fun spending mother-daughter time with Zola. They'd gone to the park, then came home, and decorated cupcakes together. She'd gotten the idea from her sister Molly. Their relationship was a bit weird and strained, but Molly was a good mother and gave her a lot of good advice.

Meredith tucked Zola into her bed and kissed her goodnight. "Good night," she whispered.

"I not sleepy. Read me a story."

"I'll read you one story and then you have to go to sleep, Zola-bear."

"OK, I love you Mommy."

Meredith's heart warmed at her daughter's words. For the first time ever, she felt like a good mother. Considering her childhood, she never thought she'd want children or be a mother. Now that she was, she couldn't imagine her life without Zola.

* * *

Jackson walked back into the living room and found April rocking Charlie to sleep. He'd just put Cayden to bed. One more to go and he'd finally have some alone time with his wife.

"Honey, I want to talk to you about something."

One of his eyebrows popped up at the serious tone in her voice. "Yeah, what about?" he asked.

"I've been offered a job," she said.

"Really? From who?"

"Dr. Romo asked me if I would be a professor at Tulane. It's only part time. He thinks I do a good job working with the interns and residents. What do you think? Do you think I should do it?"

Jackson thought for a second. He didn't want to hurt his wife's feelings so he needed to make sure what he said was said tactfully. But, yes, this job would be a perfect fit for her. He loved his wife to no end, but he'd always thought that she wasn't quite cut out to be a surgeon. She just didn't handle the stress that well. Jackson would never say that aloud, but he had thought it for years. He chose to ask her question instead. "What do you think? Is it something you're interested in doing?"

April got up. "I think he's finally asleep. I'm going to put him to bed and I'll be right back."

When she came back a few minutes later, she crawled next to him on the couch and he pulled her in close, resting his head in the crook of her neck. "So…" he said.

"I have a confession to make…I've already told him yes and put in my two weeks notice at the hospital."

Jackson chuckled into her hair. "Always so impulsive, aren't you?"

"I couldn't help it. I mean I love teaching. It's one of my favorite parts of being a surgeon at a teaching hospital. Now, I get to do that exclusively. Plus, the hours are really, really great. When I'm not teaching, the boys can stay with me during my office hours…When I was younger it was all about surgeries and working on cool cases. Now that I'm a mom, I don't really care about that stuff anymore. I'd rather spend time with our boys. I'm happy, but do you think I made a good choice?"

"April, as long as you're happy I'm happy."


	12. Chapter 12

**Year 2015**

* * *

"Five, four, three, two, ONE!" the crowd shouted. Owen bent down to give Teddy a kiss, barely grazing her lips. Her hands rose to his shoulders, pulling him towards her and deepening their kiss.

Teddy let out a breathless laugh and whispered, "Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year," he murmured against her temple. Owen had a feeling it would be a good one. He had just started dating Teddy and they were having a great time together. He wasn't quite over Cristina yet, but he wanted to see where he and Teddy could end up.

The beeper on his belt began to buzz. Looking down at his pager, he said, "It looks like we have an incoming trauma. Did you want to stay at the party or come with me?"

"Let me grab my coat," Teddy replied.

As they operated together hours later, Owen noticed, not for the first time, how in sync he was with her. In the operating room, they worked perfectly together, anticipating each other's next move. They had so many shared experiences, so many things in common. Why hadn't he given her a chance years before? He wondered what his life would be like now if he hadn't stayed with Cristina and had pursued Teddy instead. They probably wouldn't be as damaged as they were now. Teddy would have never married Henry and he would have never gotten Cristina pregnant. Hell, he and Teddy might even be married. Maybe have a kid or two.

Teddy smiled at him as she finished stitching up their patient. "It's a new year and we've already saved someone's life. You want to go get some breakfast and celebrate?"

Owen nodded. It was a new year. Time for a new life, a new start. Teddy was just the person he wanted to spend the year with.

* * *

"Sooofiiia, it's time to eat," Mark called. His almost four-year-old daughter toddled into the kitchen. She was growing up so fast. It felt like just yesterday she was a baby, but she was going to be in Pre-K later this year.

Having Sofia in his life made him appreciate the things in his life that really mattered like his friendships with Callie and Derek, his job, and his relationship with Addison. Lately, Addison had become increasingly important to him. He still loved Lexie, always would, but it was time he moved on. He'd hung on to his grief for far too long. He wanted to love and be loved again. Addison was a good fit for him. She might not agree, but she truly was.

As he placed dinner on the table, Addison walked in with Henry. Once everyone was settled and eating, he glanced at her and said, "So I've been thinking. We've been…whatever this is…for several months now. You spend almost every night here. Why don't you and Henry move in with me?"

Addison took a sip of water and cleared her throat. Shaking her head, she answered, "No, we've tried to have a relationship before. You cheated. I think it's best if we stay friends with benefits."

"That's not enough for me," Mark replied, honestly. "I want more. Addie, I promise I'll really try this time."

"Mark, we don't have what it takes to stick it out long-term."

Mark chuckled, "We're freaking perfect for each other. You're attractive. I'm attractive. You're good in bed. I'm good in bed. I'm a great surgeon. You're a great surgeon. You got a kid. I got a kid. Well, make that two. You've always been a close friend. I can't imagine my life without you. What do you say? How about moving in with me?"

Addison didn't bat an eye as she replied, "The answer's still no. Will you please pass me the carrots?"

* * *

Izzie found Alex on the fourth floor wheeling a patient back to his room. She smiled as she spied her rough-around-the-edges husband make his young charge feel comfortable. _He's going to be a great dad_ , she thought.

Turning around, Alex noticed her out in the hallway. He checked on his patient one last time before walking out to greet her. Kissing her on the cheek, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Just seeing if you had time for some coffee."

"For you, always. Let me drop off this kid's chart. Then, we'll go."

Sitting in the cafeteria, Izzie fiddled with her coffee lid. Alex was chowing down on his burger as if he hadn't eaten in a week which she knew wasn't true since she was in charge of feeding him. Taking in a deep breath, she worked up enough courage finally to say, "We're having a baby."

Alex stopped in mid chew, a few onions falling out of his mouth. "What?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant. I haven't gone to the OB/GYN yet, but I'm due sometime in August."

Izzie breathed a sigh of relief when Alex grinned. He jumped out of his chair and crushed her against his chest. "Iz, this is great. It's so great. Are you happy? I mean, you want this baby, right?"

Overloaded with pregnancy hormones, Izzie started to cry. "Of course, Alex. I couldn't be happier."

"Neither could I," he said, kissing the top of her head.


	13. Chapter 13

**Year 2015**

* * *

Hearing the creak of the door, Arizona rushed to stuff everything into her makeup bag. Her back was turned away from Callie as she entered the bathroom. She hadn't moved quickly enough. Callie grabbed her hand and spun her around. Taking the bag out of her hands, Callie dug into it and pulled out a bottle.

Reading the label, she asked, "Vicodin? Who gave you a prescription for this? Oh, I see. Apparently, I have. I'm the doctor listed."

"It's not what you think," she said desperately.

"Really? Because it looks like you've used my prescription pad to medicate yourself. How long has this been going on?" Callie asked, her voice getting louder by the second.

"Callie, life has been so hard these past few years. My leg, my job, nothing seems to have gone the way I planned."

Callie shook her head. "That's no excuse." Going over to the toilet, she opened the bottle and poured the pills into the toilet. "I should have guessed. How could I have not known? You've been so secretive lately, acted so strangely." Callie threw the empty bottle against the wall and sunk to the floor, crying.

Arizona watched her wife dissolve into a puddle of tears. She felt like crap. The lowest of the low. How could she have done this to the person she loved most in the world? Because those pills helped her escape. Helped her deal with the continual suck fest of her life. Try as she might, Callie would never understand what it was like to be essentially a cripple or to lose your job. Arizona hadn't lost her license to practice medicine, but she'd been forced to resign in order to satisfy the requirements of the settlement. After three months of looking for a new job, she hadn't found a practice or a hospital that was willing to hire her. No matter what happened to her professionally, she still loved and wanted to be with her wife.

Arizona put her hands up. "I'll stop. I promise. No more pills. I'm done."

* * *

As April fed Charlie, she babbled on excitedly. "I had the best day at work. Dean Thomas asked me to schedule all the classes for next semester. On top of that, he's thinking about letting me design a course with an emphasis on Trauma training. How fun does that sound?"

"Sweetheart, I love you, but you're a nerd," Jackson replied.

April stuck her tongue out at him. Cayden mimicked his mother, pieces of chewed up chicken falling off his tongue. April grinned as Jackson cleaned up their son's mess. She asked, "How did your day go?"

"It was fine until my grandpa called." Jackson made a face. "He's never going to let it go. I'm 33 years old and he still wants to control my life."

"What did he say this time?"

"The usual. Telling me I'm wasting my potential in plastics. Offering me a job at Mass Gen."

April covered his hand with her own. "I know he has a weird way of showing it, but he really cares about you."

"I know. I just wish he would stop harping at me all the time. This sounds lame, but I wish he was proud of me and what I do for a living."

"I'm proud of you. You're a great surgeon and an awesome dad and husband." Walking behind him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, "How about after the kids go to bed we do something that I know will put you in a better mood?"

He smiled, knowing just how capable his wife was at making him feel better.

* * *

"What do you think about adopting another baby?" Derek asked.

Meredith stared at him in shock. "Umm…I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. This is somewhat unexpected. Do you really want to have another kid?"

"I think I do. It would be kind of nice to have a son. Zola would benefit from having a sibling around. She's gotten kind of spoiled."

"It could be nice to have another child, but we're both so busy at work. Do you think we could handle another baby?"

"We don't necessarily have to adopt an infant. We could get a toddler or a kid in elementary school."

Meredith looked at him, not fully convinced. "I don't know. This is a lot to think about. Do you mind giving me more time to consider? Zola's about to start Pre-K and work has gotten really busy since my promotion. Plus, my dad and sister are coming to visit next week. I'm a little stressed out and I don't know if I'd make the best decision feeling the way I do now."

Derek kissed the top of her head. "Take as long as you need. I only want another child if it is something we both want."

As he got Zola ready for bed, he realized he didn't know when the idea had struck him. He had just all of a sudden felt like adding on to their family. He'd grown up in a big family and had always expected to have one too. Although he'd said he'd be fine if she didn't want another child, he really hoped that Meredith would seriously consider adopting again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Year 2015**

* * *

"April, honey, I think you've had enough," her husband said, attempting to pry the glass of wine from her fingers.

Pushing his hand away, she took another gulp. What had started as an enjoyable evening had gone south quickly. She respected Harper Avery. He was a legend in the medical profession, how could she not? But if he made one more disparaging remark about her husband, so help her, Jackson would have to keep her from throttling that old man.

Jackson's grandfather sat back down at the table. "On my way back from the bathroom, I saw Greg Tilney. Great cardiologist. Why don't I set up an interview with you and him?" Shaking his head, "I hate to see you waste your talent doing boob jobs all day."

"That's it. I'm done," April said, putting her hands up. "I'm so tired of you making digs at my husband all the time. Where do you get off saying he's wasting his talent? He is really, really good at what he does. And it's not just boob jobs like you think. You know what? So what if he makes women's boobs bigger? Everybody likes bigger…ouch!" she exclaimed, rubbing her lower leg.

April glared at Jackson as he said, "I think my wife has had a little too much to drink. Why don't I get the check and we'll say goodnight?"

Harper chuckled, "Let your wife finish. I'd like to hear what she has to say."

April swallowed. "I don't mean to be rude, sir. It's just that it is really frustrating to me that you can't see the good in him. He's a great surgeon. But more than that, he's a great man. Why can't you see that?"

"I do. I do see it," Harper answered. "He's a better husband and father than I was at his age. It took me quite a few years before I realized that my family was what really mattered. Jackson's never had that problem. He's always put you and his sons first. I'm proud of him for that," he said, patting his grandson on the back.

"Uh, thanks, Grandpa," Jackson replied, awkwardly.

"I'll try to stop nagging you so much, Jacky…You've got good taste. Make sure you hold tight to this one."

* * *

Izzie heard the slam of the front door and watched her husband stumble in, plopping down on the couch next to her. Leaning over, he pulled her close and kissed her. Izzie pressed her hands against his chest. Wrinkling her nose, she said, "Ugh, you smell like beer and cheese."

"Yeah, I got some beers after work," Alex hiccupped. "Rough day. Had to take the edge off."

"Did you drive home?"

"No, the bartender called me a taxi."

"That's good. Why don't you take a shower and go to bed?" Izzie stood up and went into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. She was upset with him, but he was pretty drunk so there was no point in arguing with him. They could talk about it tomorrow.

Alex had other plans because he followed her into the kitchen. "Iz, I'm sorry I didn't make it to the ultrasound thing. So, did you see a twig and berries?"

"No twig or berries," Izzie replied, practically throwing the silverware into the drawer. She still couldn't believe that he hadn't shown up for one of the most important prenatal visits. Finding out the sex of the baby was a huge deal. She thought he'd want to know if they were having a boy or a girl, but no he'd rather go off drinking.

"So it's a girl then?"

"Yep, it's a girl."

Alex bobbed his head up and down, nodding. Irritated, she snapped, "Would you stop moving your head like that? You look like a moron."

"Look, Iz, I'm really sorry. I should have gone…I should have gone with you. I was scared."

"Yes, because tiny infants evoke fear into the hearts and minds of millions," she replied, not believing a word he said.

"I'm not joking. I'm terrified. I don't come from the best family. What if our kid turns out to be a whack job or something? That's all on me."

Izzie's face softened. "We're going to love her and take care of her the best we can. She's going to turn out fine. She'll be completely normal."

"You gotta make sure that she does," he pleaded

She nodded and kissed him gently on the lips. "I will. We both will."

* * *

Cristina grabbed her tablet out of her purse and opened her Face Time app. She had to talk to Meredith. She'd done something stupid and needed her best friend to commiserate.

"Hey, Cristina," Meredith murmured sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "Are you in a bathroom?"

"Yeah, I kind of did something stupid."

"Who'd you do?"

"You're not going to believe me. I wouldn't believe me."

"Spit it out. Who'd you bang?"

"Burke."

Meredith's face went from sleepy to surprised in a matter of seconds. She looked like she was trying to speak but couldn't find the words. Finally, she was able to get out, "Preston Burke?"

"No, Jethro Burke. I thought I'd wake you up to tell you about a random dude I slept with...Of course, I mean Preston Burke."

"Oh my, how did this happen?"

"He's lecturing at a conference I'm attending. He saw me at the bar and came over. We talked for a couple of hours and one thing led to another and now I'm sitting in the bathroom of his hotel room."

"Was the sex any good?" Meredith asked.

"You know how when you haven't eaten for hours whatever you do eat tastes so good?" Cristina caught Meredith's nod on the screen. "That's how tonight felt. I haven't had sex in so long that it would have felt good with anyone."

"I thought you had a one-night stand with that hippie dude?"

"That was like a year ago. I'm all about kicking surgical ass now. I don't have time to waste on men and relationships."

"Wow. Do you think you will regret sleeping with Burke?"

"It's too soon to tell. I'm still a little drunk."

* * *

"What's wrong with me Mark? Why can't I have a normal relationship? I just want to be happy, you know? That's all I want."

Mark downed another shot of whiskey. "What's wrong with me? I can never catch a break in any of my relationships."

Callie shook her head and downed her own shot of whiskey. "You brought your problems on yourself because you were a cheater and a man whore. It's karma. I, on the other hand, haven't cheated and I'm not a whore." Mark's side eye made her add, "OK, I'm a little slutty, but I don't deserve this."

Mark laughed, "It's so damn ironic. Whenever I want to have something serious with a woman, they either die or tell me they don't want me."

"And my wife's a drug addict. Life sucks," Callie said.

A few more drinks later, Mark and Callie were dancing on the empty floor of the bar. Not so much dancing as swaying clumsily to the beat. Looking at Callie, Mark asked, "Remember sexual sorbet?"

"Yeah, her name is Sofia…I'm glad we have her, but that theory didn't really work did it? Just opened up a whole new can of worms."

"I don't know," Mark mumbled, bending down to kiss Callie.

Surprised, Callie pushed him away. "What are you doing?"

"I broke up with Addison. I need to have my palette cleansed," he grinned goofily.

"You might not be with Addison, but I'm still with Arizona. We're still together and I'd like to keep it that way. She's in rehab right now. The last thing she needs is for me to cheat on her."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's the alcohol. Let's grab a taxi and go home. By ourselves, individually" Callie added.

* * *

Meredith raised her arms over her head as Derek pulled off her shirt. She was a little wasted. The staff party had gotten a little out of hand and she'd had a little too much tequila.

Kissing him, she whispered, "You take such good care of me. And Zola."

"I try," Derek replied, pulling an old T-shirt over her head.

"You certainly succeeded my expectations. Wait, that doesn't sound right."

"Don't worry about it. Go on and sleep. I'm going to finish writing this paper, then I'll turn off the lights."

Meredith lay her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes. Opening her eyes a minute later, she propped herself against the pillows.

"Derek, I've been thinking."

Not looking up from his laptop, he asked, "About what?"

"About this whole adopting another baby thing."

He stopped typing, giving her his full attention.

"I love Zola. I love you. I love my job. That's three things that I love," she said, holding up her fingers. "That's a lot of things. I think if I added one more thing I wouldn't be able to keep doing a good job. I feel like I'm a good mom to Zola, but I also feel like I have just enough love and energy for only one child."

"You're saying we shouldn't adopt another baby?"

Meredith nodded sadly. "I think it would be better in the long run if Zola stays an only child."


	15. Chapter 15

**Year 2015**

* * *

Cristina was a beast. That's all that Meredith could think as she watched her friend operate. Her focus, her precision, everything was so spot on. The title of Cardio God was rightfully hers.

Meredith had arrived for an impromptu visit at Mayo this morning. She had spent the majority of the day hanging out in Cristina's extremely large office, but had finally got to sit in on one of her surgeries. She really missed working with her best friend and seeing her every day. They talked and Skyped a lot, but it just wasn't the same.

After Cristina's surgery, Meredith met her outside the operating room. "You totally kicked ass in there."

Her friend smirked, "Was there ever any question that I wouldn't? Let me change and let's go down to the bar across the street. I can hear the tequila calling our names."

The night felt like old times at Joe's. Really old times. Drinking. Talking about Derek. Talking about Burke.

"So what's going on between you and Burke?" she asked.

"We hooked up one time. It wasn't a big deal." she shrugged.

"Does it have anything to do with Teddy and Owen? I heard from Bailey that they are dating now."

"So my ex-husband has moved on with my ex-mentor. I've moved on too."

Meredith shot her a skeptical look. "Really? Because a couple months ago you had sex with the man who left you at the altar. That doesn't sound like moving on to me. If anything, you're moving backwards."

"I'm fine. Really. I'm fine." Cristina threw back a shot of tequila and grabbed her hand. "Come on. Let's dance."

* * *

Alex heard the sound of his daughter waking up on the monitor. Izzie lay conked out on the bed. Yawning, he thought he'd do the non-douchey thing and get up and take care of his daughter himself. Fetching his daughter from her room, he lightly bounced her on the way to the kitchen, warmed up a bottle and then sat on the couch to feed her. He turned on the TV, but found he couldn't focus. His eyes kept wandering back to his beautiful baby girl.

They had decided to name her Ella. Alex snorted. There hadn't been a 'they' about it. The name had totally been Izzie's idea.

"It's not a bad name," he'd told her. "It's just kind of girly."

"Well, she _is_ a girl," his wife had responded.

In the course of just three weeks, his entire life had changed. He had gone from sleeping as much as he wanted to being woken up every two hours. He could change a diaper in less than a minute. He knew more than he ever cared to know about breastfeeding and breast milk. The most significant change was that he had become one of those parents he had always avoided. He was always showing pictures of his kid and talking about her. Geez, when had his life become so lame?

Ella looked up at him and gurgled. Her tiny hand curled around his finger. He took back his last thought. His life was pretty awesome.

* * *

"Hmm, I think you should wear the purple tie." April said, alternately holding up the red and the purple ties next to Jackson's shirt.

He took the purple one from his wife and began tying it around his neck. "It's not like this is that big of a deal. It's only the local news."

"If it's not that big of a deal, why were you practicing in the mirror?" she teased, kissing him on the cheek. "It _is_ a big deal. I'm excited for you."

"I don't know why they chose me. Wait, I do know. I'm the pretty one. The one they all thought would look good on TV. Well, when I tank, they'll know they should have gone with Dr. Weissman. He may be a dinosaur, but at least he won't make a fool of himself."

April wrapped her arms around his waist. "Don't think like that. That was years ago when we did the documentary. You will be great today. Just great. You're just answering some questions about plastic surgery. Pretend the camera isn't even there. Cayden and Charlie and I will be back stage. Sending you good vibes."

"I hope they're enough."

"They will be. Remember, no matter what, I still love you."

Kissing her, he replied, "I love you, too."

* * *

"You don't get to tell me what to do with my life. _You_ have two perfectly functioning legs. _You_ have a job. _You_ have a biological child."

"I'm not telling you what to do with your life. I'm saying that if you want to stay in this relationship with me, with Sofia, then you need to make a change. Skipping out on your NA meetings isn't helping you any."

"They are pointless. I already know everything they're going to say."

"They are not pointless. They have helped thousands of people deal with their addictions. You have a problem. You need to get help."

"The only problem I have is you. Nagging me all the time."

"I don't even know who you are anymore. You've become antisocial. Alex called to tell you he became a father last week and you didn't even want to talk to him."

"So I could congratulate him on his wonderful life while I'm stuck with this crappy one."

Mark stood listening outside the door to their heated argument. It bothered him that the mothers of his child were still fighting after all these months. He knocked on the door.

Callie opened it, wiping the tears off her face with the back of her hand. "Mark, it's not your night. You get Sofia tomorrow."

"I know it's not my night, but I'm taking my daughter anyway. She doesn't need to listen to this." He walked across the living room and scooped up Sofia. On his way out, he turned and said, "Find a way to fix your relationship. Go to couple's therapy. Take a vacation. Do something, because Sofia deserves better than this."

* * *

"Teddy, do you want some take out? Where are your menus?" he called. He heard the sound of running water. She was in the bathroom so naturally she couldn't hear him. He began to search for the menus on his own, opening various drawers. He stopped at the sight of the contents in one drawer.

"Hey, what are you looking for?" Teddy asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Umm, what's this?" he asked, holding up a copy of Brides magazine.

"That's a magazine," she said, taking it from him and shoving it back in the drawer.

"I can see that. It's for weddings and stuff."

"Well, yeah. I hope to have a wedding and stuff."

"With who?"

Teddy rolled her eyes. "With you, of course. Isn't that where this is headed? Marriage?"

Owen smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I've thought about it. I've thought about kids too. Do you want kids?"

"I'm getting older so I think that only one is realistic. But if we have two, that wouldn't bother me."

He kept stroking her back. "I think you would make a good mother, a good wife. I'd like to marry you."

"Now? Because I'm going to need a proposal. And a fancy wedding."

"Keep on the lookout. There's one coming."


	16. Chapter 16

**Year 2016**

* * *

Dr. Ford cleared his throat. "Let's calm down. I feel that our tempers are getting the best of us. Arizona is making some valid points. Callie, let's listen to all she has to say, without interrupting."

Arizona took a deep breath and looked Callie square in the eye. "I don't think you really understand what my life is like. I have a leg that is atrophied and almost useless. I walk around with a cane like I'm ninety years old. I look at you and you're stunning. Beautiful from head to toe. And here I am this cripple. I don't feel sexy. I sure as hell don't feel attractive. On top of that, I lost my job at a nice cushy practice. The only place that will have me now is a free clinic in New Jersey. No, I shouldn't have started popping pills. But that was the only way I could deal with the suck fest that is my life."

"I'm sorry your daughter and I make your life so sucky."

"You don't get it. It's _not_ about you," Arizona practically shouted. "It's about what _I'm_ going through. How _I_ feel. You wanted everything to go back to normal after the plane crash, like it didn't happen. I couldn't do it, I still can't forget. You don't know what it was like, being there. I was so scared," Arizona said, her voice wavering. "Afraid that I'd never see you or Sofia again."

"You never wanted to talk about the crash. I'd ask you and you'd brush me off. You know what? I was scared too. Those four days were the worst days of my life. I was terrified that I'd lost the love of my life," Callie told her wife.

"Unfortunately, our time is up. My homework for you is to talk about the crash. Arizona, you tell Callie what it was like out in the woods. Callie, you tell her how you were feeling while you waited for her to be found. It's always difficult to dig up painful memories, but I think it will make your marriage stronger."

"I hope so," Callie said under her breath.

* * *

"Jackson, the guests will be here in half an hour. I need your help," April said as she clicked off the television. "Are the boys' presents downstairs?"

Jackson inwardly groaned, just wanting to relax for a second. They had decided to combine the boys' birthdays and celebrate on one day. Hell, their birthdays were only two weeks apart. It only made sense, she'd told him. Since the decision three weeks ago, she'd been planning and preparing for the party nonstop. His mom and her parents had even flown down for it. It was beyond ridiculous. The boys were only turning two and three. They wouldn't even remember this party. He didn't get why it was such a big deal.

"Yes, hon, the presents are in the living room."

"OK, cake, ice cream, favors, birthday hats," April mumbled to herself. "Sweetheart?"

"Yes."

"Will you check on your mom? She's changing the boys into their birthday outfits. She might need some help."

Jackson walked upstairs and found his mom tugging Charlie's red polo over his fat little belly. Cayden, already dressed, was playing with his cars on the floor. Jackson went to lie down on the floor next to his son.

"Tired?" his mom asked.

"Exhausted. Today's my day off and April has had me running around since six for this stupid party. I miss sleep. I miss doing whatever I want to do," he grumbled.

"You're going to have to wait a while. It's going to be a long time before your kids are grown."

"You don't even know. Last week, April asked me when we want to start trying for another baby."

Catherine smiled. "Aww, maybe you'll have a baby girl this time."

Jackson sighed. He wasn't even sure he wanted a third child, but when it came to his wife, he was putty in her hands. It was depressing how easily he could cave.

"Well, Charlie's ready to go. Get off your lazy butt and help me take them downstairs."

"All right," he said, getting up reluctantly.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Derek asked after they had been on the road for fifteen minutes.

"It's a surprise," Meredith replied.

"Give me a hint."

"It's something that will remind you of Seattle."

"Death and destruction? That's what I think of when I think of Seattle."

Meredith rolled her eyes, but she had to give it to him. A lot of bad things had happened in Seattle.

"No, this is a good thing. Think about something you liked about Seattle."

Derek smiled at her. "I like you. Scratch that, I love you. And you're from Seattle."

"It's a thing, not a person."

"Are you building me a house?" he teased.

Meredith's arm swung and the back of her hand hit him squarely in the stomach. "Shut up. I feel guilty enough about that as it is."

Up ahead, they caught sight of Hull Pemberton Point. Meredith pulled the car to a stop in the line.

"A ferryboat. I should have known. You remember how I have a thing for ferryboats."

"Of course. It was one of the first real conversations that we had."

"You know that whole conversation was about how much I liked you?"

"I know," Meredith replied, winking at him.

"Happy Anniversary," Derek said as he leaned in for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

"Do you want cheese pizza?"

"No."

"Chicken nuggets?"

"No."

"Macaroni and cheese?"

"No."

"Zola, you're going to have to tell your Aunt Cristina what you _do_ want to eat. I am a god, but it doesn't come with mind reading powers."

"Umm, I want ice cream."

Sighing, Cristina nodded. Why not let the kid have some ice cream? Meredith and Derek were out for a romantic evening. They'd never be the wiser.

Other than her indecisiveness over food, Zola was easy to babysit. She was a little less annoying than most kids her age. Cristina patted Zola on the head. She wasn't bad at all. They had actually had fun dancing around the house and playing Operation.

As Cristina got Zola ready for bed, she thought for a second what it would have been like to be a mom but quickly stopped herself from thinking about that. There was no use. Cristina had never wanted to be a mother, ever. She didn't regret having an abortion, but she did question whether her marriage would have lasted if she hadn't had one. Would she and Owen still be married? Or would Owen still have ended up with that two-faced bitch who used to be her mentor?

 _Stop_ , she told herself. She needed someone who loved her, for who she was, not who she could be or who he thought she should be.

Cristina tucked Zola into bed. "Good night, Zola."

"Night, Aunt Cristina. I like it when you come over and play."

Cristina smiled at her. "Me too, Zola. Me too."

* * *

Izzie kicked off her shoes in the hallway. Her shift from hell had finally ended. All she wanted was to see her baby girl and feel Alex's arms around her. As she walked into the living room, she was confronted by a couch piled with laundry, a coffee table filled with glasses and bottles, and a floor littered with dirty clothes, take out cartons, and a dirty diaper. She grabbed the trash off the floor and headed to the kitchen.

What she saw didn't help improve her mood. Dirty dishes and bottles covered the counters. Unable to stand the mess and too tired to clean it up, she shut off the light and walked to her bedroom to change.

"Seriously? You've got to be kidding me," she said, exasperated. "I'm on call for 48 hours and this is what I have to come home to?"

Her eyes skipped over the unmade bed and Alex's dirty clothes that were scattered on the floor. Changing out of her work clothes quickly, she slammed the door behind her and stomped towards the nursery.

Opening the door, she found Alex pacing the room and gently bouncing their six month old, Ella, in his arms. He put a finger to his lips. "She's almost asleep," he said.

After a couple more paces back and forth, Ella had finally nodded off to sleep. Alex put her in her crib. Taking his wife's hand, he guided her out of the room.

"I know you're pissed. The house's a mess. I was going to clean up some but Ella started throwing up. Think she's got diarrhea too."

Izzie made a face. "Is she OK? Should we take her to a doctor?"

" _I'm_ a doctor. Don't worry. She's fine. I gave her some electrolytes. She should sleep it off and feel better tomorrow."

Biting her lip, Izzie said worriedly, "I just want to check on her."

Alex put his hand out to stop her. "Let her sleep. She's exhausted from crapping and crying all night. You go in there; you'll just wake her up. I have her baby monitor. We'll hear her if anything happens."

"All right. I think I'm going to go to bed myself." She yawned, "I had the worst day."

She opened their bedroom door and motioned for Alex to join her. He looked surprised. "Really? I don't have to sleep on the couch? I thought you were mad about the mess."

"I am, but I'll worry about that later. Let's go to bed."

He deserved to sleep on the couch, but she knew she wouldn't get any sleep without him next to her. It was only after she had Alex's arms encircled tightly around her that she was finally able to drift off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Year 2016**

* * *

"Jacky, I heard about your good news. Congratulations."

"Uh, thanks grandpa."

Jackson was trying his best to pay attention to his grandfather. However, his son Charlie wasn't making it easy. Jackson used his shoulder to press his phone against his ear. At the same time, he was holding Charlie with one hand and a toothbrush in the other, trying in vain to brush his son's teeth.

"No problem," his grandfather said. "So are you excited? Your pretty face is probably just what they're looking for."

Jackson answered, "Hardly a TV star…Charlie, would you stop moving around?…I'm just going to be part of a regular segment on the lunch news hour. Umm, answer phone calls, give tips, nothing big."

"Glad you got more comfortable in front of the camera."

Me too. Jackson thought. By now, Charlie had had enough of having his teeth brushed. Leaning forward, he spit into the sink, spraying his dad in the process. His son giggled at the mess he'd made. Swinging Charlie into his arms, he headed to the laundry room for a new shirt.

"Grandpa, thanks again for the call, but I've really got to go. April had to go in early so I have to get the kids ready by myself. Talk to you soon."

Jackson ended the call. He hated being so abrupt but old people did tend to yammer on forever. Jackson really did appreciate the call. His grandfather had actually sounded proud of him even though he'd slipped in a backhanded compliment.

At least he was doing something partially right. As of late, he seemed to be getting a whole lot wrong. His mother was upset that he wasn't bonding with her boyfriend. It was completely ludicrous. He'd worked with the man for years and all of a sudden he was supposed to look at the man as some sort of father figure? He'd said as much to his mother and it had not gone over well, at all. In fact, she hadn't called him in weeks, choosing instead to talk to his wife to check up on her grandsons. Richard Webber was a great surgeon. He liked and respected him as the Chief, but as his mom's boyfriend? Not so much.

Then, there was April. He still wasn't ready to start trying for a baby again and she was getting frustrated. She'd told him point blank that she was getting off the pill in July and if he had a problem with that, he could make the trip to the drugstore himself. Like he'd remember to do that, he scoffed.

In addition, his sons did not appreciate their father running things this morning. April had their routine down pat and so far, he'd screwed it all up. He'd spent the majority of the morning chasing them and wrestling them into their clothes. He prayed April never left them, because he would make one crappy single dad.

* * *

"I can't believe she's almost a year old. She's still so tiny," said Amber, Alex's sister.

"She is in the 40th percentile in weight and height, but developmentally she's fine. She's even started trying to walk. Ella might be little, but she has some big dreams. Don't you my princess? Don't you?" Izzie cooed to her daughter.

Alex watched as his sister and wife played with his daughter. He was glad that his sister and even his mom had come to visit. It was good to see them, because it had been awhile.

"Alex, I'm really proud of you," his mom said, taking a seat next to him.

"Thanks, Mom. I do my best."

"You're a good man. I know that you're rough around the edges but that's mostly my fault. If I had done a better job of raising you, you wouldn't have had to struggle so much. I'm sorry that I let you down."

A lump formed in Alex's throat. "Ma, it's not your fault. You did the best you could."

"It wasn't good enough. You and your brother and sister deserved better. Ella's darling isn't she?" his mom said, thankfully changing the subject.

"Yeah, she's all right. She takes after Izzie so she's going to be gorgeous."

Mrs. Karev patted Alex on the back. "You're not so bad looking yourself. She'll take what's most important from you. She'll have your fight and determination."

"Yeah, well, I got it from you, mom. All the crap that you've gone through and you still keep on trying to do the best you can."

His mom smiled at him and mouthed a thank you. "We're leaving in a few hours. I want to get in a few more cuddles with my granddaughter," she said, taking the baby from his sister Amber.

Izzie moved near Alex. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Real good," he smiled.

* * *

"Zola, are you ready for your first day of kindergarten?" Meredith asked.

It was Zola's first day of school. Everything was ready for the big day. Supplies were packed. Zola was wearing a yellow polka dotted dress. Her hair had a big yellow bow in it per her request. She was good to go and super excited about going to school like a big kid.

As they approached Mrs. Walker's classroom, Meredith gripped Derek's hand more tightly. Her little girl was growing up. She didn't know where the time had gone. One day she was videotaping her taking her first steps and the next Zola was five years old and starting her first day of kindergarten.

"She's going to be fine," Derek whispered in her ear.

"I know. It's just that I'm a little worried. This is a big step for us. Day care was different. There weren't as many kids. What if she gets scared? What if she gets lost? What if she doesn't make any friends?"

Derek turned her around to face him. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "She's going to be fine. You're going to be fine. There's no need to worry."

Meredith shook her head mutely. She wanted to believe him, but couldn't just yet.

Derek lowered himself to Zola's eye level. Smiling at her, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Daddy loves you. Have a good day at school."

"I will Daddy," Zola replied, wrapping her arms around his neck. She walked to her mom and hugged her around the waist.

"I love you too, Zola bear."

Zola stepped backwards and waved at her mom and dad. "Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy. I love you."

As they walked back towards the school entrance, Meredith caught Derek swipe a tear of his own off his face.

 _Not so easy to let her go, is it?_ she thought.

* * *

"We really do miss having you around at the practice," Addison told Arizona. "You had such a great relationship with your patients and their families."

"Thanks. I appreciate that. Now that it's been awhile, I understand why you had to let me go. The whole situation was completely my fault."

"We were still sad to see you go. How are you and Callie doing?"

Arizona looked across the playground. Mark and Callie were pushing Henry and Sofia on the swings. They looked like a family. Shooing her jealous thought away, she replied, "It's going OK. Couples therapy is surprisingly beneficial. We're forced to talk about things we don't necessarily want to discuss."

"That's good. When I was with Derek, we tried couples therapy and it was awful. Nothing got resolved at all, but I think that was just a sign we weren't meant to be together."

Arizona didn't know what to say next. She'd worked with Addison and they knew each other because of Mark and Callie, but they'd never been close. It was kind of weird hanging out with her at the park. They didn't have a whole bunch in common. Now that Mark and Addison were back on again, she figured she'd see her around more often.

"So how are things going with you and Mark?"

"Oh you know," she grinned. "Great in bed, terrible out of it."

"Mark's not that bad of a guy. I have to admit that I'm jealous of his relationship with Callie at times which is why we don't always get along, but I think deep down he's a good person. You should seriously consider a real relationship with him. He's changed a lot in the last few years. I think you two could work if you put some effort into it."

Addison shook her head. "I don't know. We have such a weird and screwed up history."

"Think about it at least," Arizona suggested.

* * *

Teddy answered her ringing phone. "You know it's bad luck to talk to the bride before the wedding?"

"I think it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. And I don't think it counts the night before."

"You're right. I just don't want anything to screw this up. I can't believe that tomorrow I will be Teddy Altman-Hunt. You ready?"

"Yes. It'll be nice to relax finally. I didn't know how exhausting planning a big wedding could be."

Teddy laughed. "Yeah, you did _so_ much planning. Every time I'd ask your opinion, your response was always the same. Whatever you want dear. What colors do you like? _Whatever colors you like._ What flowers do you want? _Whatever flowers you want._ Where do you want to have the reception? _Wherever you want to have it._ Your only opinion was about the food."

"I don't like filet mignon. Just give me a plain old steak any day."

"That's what you'll get, if we get a chance to sit down at all. My sister's going to make sure they put aside some food for us." She yawned. "Owen, I better let you go. I've got a big day tomorrow."

Owen chuckled. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

"Tell me. How was it? I bet it was super tacky with tulle hanging from the ceiling."

"Actually, it was pretty spectacular," Meredith replied. "Teddy wore a strapless Vera Wang gown. I have to say when she's not wearing scrubs, she cleans up nicely. The food was great. There was dancing. Derek and I hardly ever get a chance to dance so that was fun."

"Traitor," Cristina mumbled.

"Hey, that's not fair. Owen asked Derek to be one of his groomsmen. It wasn't like he could say no."

"Well, you didn't have to go."

"Yes, I did. I'm his wife. It would be weird if I didn't."

"Whatever. Glad you made it back to Boston safely. I'll call you later."

"Cristina, I know you still love him. Don't do anything stupid, OK?"

Cristina hung up the phone. Ninety-nine percent of the time, she was happy with her life, with the direction it was going. But every once and a while she'd remember Owen. How much she loved him, how much she missed him. That's when she'd feel low. Not prone to self-pity, she was determined to get out of her funk. Reaching for her phone, she dialed a number.

"Hey, Cristina. What's up?"

"Yeah, I didn't call to chat. I heard you were in town. Do you want to come over?"

"Cristina, I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"Burke, I don't have time for this nonsense. Are you coming over or not?"

She heard him sigh. "All right. Give me fifteen minutes."


	18. Chapter 18

**Year 2016**

"This is stupid," Alex said. "She's not going to remember any of this."

"It is not stupid," replied Izzie. "Ella is going to look back at photos of tonight and see how much fun we had."

"She can't eat the candy. Why are we even going trick or treating?"

Izzie rolled her eyes. Alex just didn't get it sometimes. Of course, they weren't going trick or treating for the candy. They were going to show off their cute baby. Her daughter looked absolutely adorable as a butterfly. She had even dressed up for this evening as Cinderella, but no amount of begging and pleading had gotten Alex to change his mind about wearing a costume.

Taking a deep breath, Izzie smiled and replied through gritted teeth, "She's only going to be this little once. Let's enjoy it while we still can. This is supposed to be fun. Stop ruining it."

"She's not going to remember that I ruined it because she's one years old," Alex said as they left the house.

"Seriously Alex, don't ruin this for us," Izzie warned. Sometimes he could be such a butt, she thought.

* * *

"Mom! Dad! I'm ready to go trick or treating!" Zola yelled from downstairs.

Meredith looked in consternation at her husband as they walked downstairs to the living room. "Do you really have to go to the hospital on Halloween? It seems like you've been working a lot of overtime recently. Can't someone else cover for you?"

"They probably could but I want to make sure that this surgery goes smoothly. I'll be back late. Don't wait up for me," Derek said as he kissed Meredith and hurried out the door.

"Mommy, we gotta go or we're gonna miss the candy," Zola whined.

"Zola, trust me, there will be lots of candy. More candy than you'll ever need."

As Meredith adjusted her daughter's fairy wings, she couldn't help but worry about her relationship with Derek. Over the past few weeks, he'd become less inclined to talk about work and more inclined to spend most of his time there.

Thoughts of Christina and Owen's marriage filled her mind. She and Derek were happy, right? He wouldn't cheat on her, would he? The fact that he had cheated on his first wife with her pushed forefront into her mind. As did the expression, once a cheater, always a cheater. No, she told herself. His relationship with Addison was completely different than his relationship with her.

* * *

"Your daughter's so cute. I love her costume."

"Thanks. She picked it out herself," Mark replied to the woman sitting next to him.

"So, children's Halloween parties. They're tons of fun."

"Yeah, buckets, but it's worth it to see my little girl so happy."

"I'm Lindsey by the way. That's my son Jason in the robot costume."

"I'm Mark," he said. "My daughter's name is Sofie."

"Is your wife here?" Lindsey asked.

"No, I'm not married."

"If you don't have anything to do after this party, you could stop by my place for a drink," Lindsey offered, placing a well manicured hand on his knee.

Mark chuckled mentally to himself. Sometimes women were so easy to read. In her mid-thirties, Lindsey was a pretty brunette who looked like she never missed a spinning class. If he had met her years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to take what she was not so subtly offering.

In present day, he was no longer into that sort of thing. Taking her hand and giving it a polite squeeze, he lifted it off of his leg. As charmingly as he could, he said, "I don't have a wife, but I do have someone I'd like to marry."

Lindsey blushed red and apologized before making her way to the other side of the room.

A few seconds later, Addison plopped down next to him. "And who's this woman you'd like to be your wife?"

"Why you, of course," he said, coquettishly.

* * *

"I'm not wearing that," Jackson stated matter-of-factly.

April stuck out her lip and give him a small pout. "Please," she pleaded. "It won't look right without the Tin Man. Everything's perfect. Cayden's the lion. Charlie's the scarecrow. I'll be Dorothy. So that leaves you as the Tin Man."

Again, Jackson scoffed, "I don't dress up for Halloween."

"Not even for your sons or your wife?"

"I do lots of things for my wife," he smirked. "That baby in your belly for one. That was your idea. I merely acquiesced to your request."

He had, but it had been like pulling teeth to finally get him to agree. Well, he hadn't so much agreed as forgotten to buy protection.

It was meant to be, because she was now eight weeks pregnant and due in May.

"I'm so glad that you did. I just know this one will be a girl. But don't try to change the subject on me. We're going trick or treating as a family. You have to dress up."

"OK. I'll dress up. I'll go as a surgeon."

April whacked Jackson on the arm. "That doesn't count. You're going as the Tin Man."

"And if I don't?"

"Then don't be expecting any treats from me for a while…you know, in the bedroom," she clarified needlessly.

Her husband chuckled and bent so he was breathing near her ear. He murmured, "That's unlikely. Other than right after the boys were born what's the longest we've gone? Five? Seven days at most? Hell, if the boys weren't in this very room, you'd jump me right now."

April flushed beet red. Partly in frustration. Partly in embarrassment. She liked sex, but hated admitting it to herself and even to her husband. Although she knew sex was a gift from God, years of thinking of it as forbidden and off limits had warped her way of thinking.

Jackson brushed his lips against her cheek. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad," he said. "I love how passionate you get. It's incredibly sexy…If it'll make you happy, I'll wear the damn costume."

April smiled coyly, happy that she had got her way.


	19. Chapter 19

**Year 2017**

"Arizona, can I talk to you about something?"

Setting her tablet on the night stand, Arizona said, "Sure, what's up?"

"We've gone through a lot of ups and downs the last few years, but I feel like this last year we've made a lot of progress. We're stable now. I can tell we are in a good place," Callie answered

Arizona sure hoped so. The countless hours of therapy, the long nights talking through their problems, the weekly NA meetings had all helped to improve their marriage. She'd even found a job at a local hospital. It wasn't the same pay grade as what she had before, but she was doing something she loved. Life was good.

"So I've been thinking," Callie continued. "How do you feel about a second child?"

Arizona grinned. Sometimes Callie could totally read her mind. Having another baby had been in the back of her mind for the last couple months. It's funny how not so long ago she wasn't sure if she wanted children at all. After Sofia, she couldn't imagine her life without a child. Another one would just complete the picture; maybe a son this time.

"Yeah, I've actually been thinking about that myself. I would like another child."

Callie leaned over and hugged her. "Oh thank goodness! I'm so happy. So how do you want to do it this time? Adoption? Sperm donor?"

"I think we should use a sperm donor."

"Great! I'll visit my gynecologist tomorrow and have her refer me to an in vitro specialist. Oh my gosh! I'm so excited!"

Arizona bit her lip. This was where things got tricky. She didn't know how Callie would react. She knew Callie loved being pregnant, but still. "Um, actually, I was thinking that this time...maybe I...maybe I could be the one who's pregnant."

Callie stumbled for words. A look of surprise passed through her eyes. "Oh, wow. Um, I didn't think. I guess I just assumed I would be the one who carried the baby. But yeah, Arizona, if you want to, that's great."

"Really?" Arizona asked, unsure. "I know you loved being pregnant with Sofia."

"I did, but I want to give you a chance to be pregnant too. To feel that joy."

"I'm really looking forward to it," Arizona replied, smiling. "Also, I was thinking about maybe having Mark be the sperm donor for this baby too. That way Sofia has a sibling she's blood related to and the baby has a father who is involved in his or her life. As much as Mark gets on my nerves sometimes, he really is a great dad."

"Well, aren't you full of surprises! I think it's a good idea but we'll have to convince Mark. I don't know how he'll take it."

* * *

Mark hardly ever felt angry, but right now he was seething. He felt betrayed, hurt and all because of one woman.

"Get out of my house," he warned in an ominous tone. "I can't stand to look at you right now, Addison."

The red head pleaded with him, eyes filled with tears, cheeks stained with mascara. "Mark, Mark, please don't do this. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. Please let me explain."

"What is there to explain? It's not like it was an accident. You didn't slip and accidentally fall on his dick. You chose to sleep with him."

"I know, I know," Addison cried. "I made a horrible, terrible, awful mistake. And if I could go back and undo it I would. But you've got to understand how I feel. Everything's moving so fast with the engagement and then Callie and Arizona tell you they want you to father their next baby. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? I tried for so long to get pregnant. And you, you have like super sperm. You can knock anyone up. Even lesbians."

"So you slept with Sam because you're jealous of Callie and Arizona? I haven't even decided whether or not I am going to help them or not. All you had to do was say the word and I would have told them no."

"And have them think I'm a bitch? No, thank you."

Mark snorted. "You already are a bitch. Cheating on your fiancé is definitely something a bitch would do."

Addison wiped her tears away. "You know, I'm sorry that I hurt you, but maybe it was a good thing that I slept with Sam. It's just more confirmation that we really don't belong together. All this back and forth is exhausting."

Mark felt like crying and willed himself not to do so in front of Addison. He loved her. He really did, but did loving someone have to be this damn difficult? "You're right Addison. I'm tired of all of this. Let's call it quits for good this time."

"OK," Addison replied shakily. She made a move to take off her engagement ring.

"Don't," Mark said. "You keep it. I don't want it back."

"I'm really s-"

"Just go," Mark barked, turning his back and heading to the window. At the sound of the door closing, he made no move to wipe away his tears.

* * *

"So I just got the test results back. And guess what? I really am pregnant!" Teddy exclaimed.

Owen smiled to himself. This was great news. "Sweetheart, that's wonderful. Let's celebrate by going out to eat tonight."

"Definitely. I'm just so happy Owen. So very happy. I couldn't trust the results of the home pregnancy test because I didn't believe we could get pregnant so quickly. I thought we'd have to try longer than we did. Four months really isn't that long when you think about how old we are."

"Speak for yourself. I've still got a few more good years left in me. Don't put me out to pasture just yet."

"Oh, hush. You know what I mean. Well, they're paging me. Got to go. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye," Owen said, before hanging up the phone.

Owen couldn't keep the grin off of his face. He was going to be a dad! The past few years the desire to have children had grown. Now, God willing, it was actually going to happen. A slight pang hit his heart when he remembered the child he would have had with Cristina, but he quickly shook it away. He would have loved the child, but Cristina never would have been happy. And she deserved to be happy. So did he. And he was. It was amazing how easy and wonderful it was being married to a woman who had the same views and goals in life as he did. Teddy was the one he was meant to be with. He was never more certain of that than this moment.

* * *

"A whole week off. It's going to be so nice. No grading papers. No classes. No office hours. Just a whole week at home. With my babies. I love Spring Break!" April exclaimed.

"Yeah, that'll be great," Jackson said. "You know we could always drive down to Florida. Hang out at the beach."

April shook her head. "I'm almost 8 months pregnant. I don't think I will look very attractive next to all the hot college girls in their skimpy bikinis."

Jackson put his hands on his wife's ever increasing waist. "I love your belly. You'll be the hottest chick there. Besides I'm no spring chicken either."

April rolled her eyes. "Have you seen you? You only getter hotter with age. It's pretty disgusting. We're not going to Florida. The last thing I need is you running away with some twenty year old bimbo and leaving me with three kids to raise all by myself."

"I'd never leave you," Jackson chuckled, rubbing his nose against hers.

"You know we could have a mini vacation at home," April suggested as her hand lightly stroked down his chest.

"Yeah," said Jackson softly, biting his lip. "What'd you have in mind?"

"A hot bath, some candle light, soft music."

"Keep talking."

"A nice, long massage, a kiss on the neck and then..."

"And then what?"

"You watch the kids while I take a nap."

* * *

"What's this?" Cristina asked, looking down at her plate.

"Beef wellington and mushroom risotto. And for dessert I bought some cupcakes from that place down the street from the hospital you like."

"Burke, you didn't have to do this."

"I know. I wanted to." Burke said as he sat down at the table.

Cristina looked at him, wondering what his angle was. They'd started dating again when he'd relocated to Minnesota. It was just like old times. Lots of surgeries and lots of sex. It was fun. They were committed enough that they didn't have to go looking for company elsewhere every night, but free enough that there weren't any promises made to each other. Nothing set in stone. They hooked up when they could and when they couldn't it was no big deal. For this stage in her career, it was the ideal relationship.

Burke took a sip of his wine and then blotted his face with his napkin. Standing up he grabbed her hand and danced with her like he used to long ago. Cristina threw her head back and laughed. She'd missed this.

"So I was thinking, since I spend almost every night here anyway would it be OK if I moved in?" Burke asked.

Cristina's feet immediately quit moving. "What?"

"I think we should live together, Cristina."

Cristina turned and walked over to the table, grabbing the plates. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"We did that before remember? We ended up engaged. You ended up walking out on me. So no thanks. I don't need a repeat."

Burke walked over to the sink and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "This time's not going to be like last time."

"I know because we're not going to get that serious again. If you want something more than what we have now, then we should break up because I can't give you more than this. I don't want a serious relationship. I have no desire to get married again. If you do, no hard feelings, just leave."

"I moved here for you, Cristina."

Turning, Cristina glanced at him, upset that he had brought that up. "That was your bad. I never asked you to do that."

"I wanted to. You're right Cristina. I shouldn't have sprung this on you. It's way too soon. We haven't even been dating a year. No rush."

As she turned on the water, she gave him a final look. "I was serious about what I said."

"I know. I won't bring it up anymore. I'll go get the cupcakes and then do you want to see what's on TV tonight?"

* * *

Meredith chopped the bell peppers for dinner. For some reason dicing vegetables was a calming activity for her. She needed as much peace as she could get especially after what she had found out today. How ironic that months ago she was worried that Derek was cheating on her. That would have hurt less than what he'd actually done.

She refused to look up when he entered the kitchen. He greeted Zola and walked over to give her a kiss. She quickly stepped away from him and then resumed chopping.

"Mer, I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I wanted to tell you myself."

Meredith refused to respond, keeping her focus on the cutting board.

"I mean you can't really blame me especially after you ruined my last trial. The research was just too important."

Meredith grabbed an onion and began to peel it.

"You are an amazing surgeon and researcher, but sometimes you let your emotions get the best of you. We lost so much the last time I let you in on my study. I didn't want that to happen again."

Meredith turned to the stove and dropped some butter onto a skillet.

"If you want me to say I'm sorry, I'm not going to. I was only doing what was best for my career. It shouldn't affect our home life."

As she stirred the onions and bell peppers in the melted butter, Meredith finally looked at him and spoke. "I've packed a suit case for you. You've got enough clothes for a week. You can pick up Zola from day care on Tuesday and Thursday and she'll stay with you those nights."

"Meredith, don't be ridiculous. This is my home."

"I've reserved a room for you at the hotel by the hospital. The reservation is for six nights. We can talk about where we'll go from here next week."

"Meredith..."

Breaking her cool, she whispered harshly, "Please. Leave. You hurt me and I need some time to heal."

Looking at her dewy eyes, Derek nodded. "OK. We'll take a break. Think things over."

* * *

Izzie, she told herself, calm down. It's probably nothing. Izzie slowed her breathing, taking deep breaths that reached all the way to her diaphragm.

She reached for her cell phone and shakily dialed the number to her doctor's office.

"Hello? I would like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Carter...As soon as possible. Tomorrow, if she's free...I've found a new mole under my armpit."

After she hung up the phone, Izzie went straight to Ella's room. Her little one was sleeping peacefully. Please God, she prayed, don't let it be cancer. I don't want my little girl growing up without a mama and I don't think Alex could do this without me. He's gone through so much in his life. He shouldn't have to go through this again.

As Izzie finished praying, she resolved to not tell Alex until she knew whether or not there was anything to worry about.


	20. Chapter 20

_July 29, 2017_

* * *

"Oh," Izzie gasped, delightedly. "What are these for?"

Taking the flowers from her husband, she sniffed them while she waited for Alex to explain.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. Just thought you might like them," he said, as he walked through the door. "Where's Ella?"

"She's fast asleep. We had a busy day. I love having the whole day off to spend with her. We went to the library and the store and then went for a walk at the park. It was a wonderful day. How was yours?"

"Better now that I'm home." Scooping his wife into his arms, he planted a kiss on her lips. "Ella's passed out? She's not gonna wake up?"

"She shouldn't," Izzie whispered breathlessly, surprised by Alex's actions.

"Good," Alex said as he stalked off towards their bedroom, carrying her in his arms. He didn't let go of her until they reached the bed and then he laid her down gently. His mouth covered hers once more as he began to unbutton his shirt. Alex broke the kiss and looked down into her eyes. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she murmured before pulling his head down back to hers.

* * *

"Tonight the American Association of Neuroscience would like to honor Dr. Derek Shepherd for his new research in the study of Alzheimer's disease."

The crowd applauded. Meredith's heart swelled with pride as her husband kissed her cheek before walking up to the stage. A true smile was plastered to her face as he began his speech. Although, she'd initially been hurt by the fact he'd kept the study a secret, they'd been able to work things out. She had stayed away from his study and he had apologized for not trusting her. She hated to admit it, but there was some truth in what he'd said. She did mess up things. It didn't matter that she did them with the best of intentions. She still needed to think about what consequences her actions would have for others.

"And finally, I wouldn't be here today without the love and support of my wife, Dr. Meredith Grey." Light applause filled the room at the mention of her name. "She is my inspiration. Years ago, when we first met, I learned that her mother had Alzheimer's. I saw how this affected my wife, how haunting this disease could be for not just the patients but their families as well. Meredith helped me realize I didn't want anyone else to suffer like she had. That is why I pursued research opportunities in Alzheimer's. That's why I'm so excited about the progress we're making in my current study. So I want to thank my wife, for being who she is, for loving me, for putting up with me when I'm in a bad mood, for being my everything. This award means nothing without you, Meredith. I love you."

As he stepped down, he was met with another round of applause. Sitting back down next to Meredith, he asked, "So what'd you think?"

Meredith smiled. "I think you're going to get very lucky tonight."

"I guess we'll have to make these award ceremonies a regular thing, won't we?" Derek smirked, before kissing his wife.

* * *

"Cayden, Charlie, let's go. Time for bed," Jackson told his sons.

"No! I wanna play cars with Gra'pa Harpy," Charlie informed his father.

Jackson stalked over to his second son and lifted him in the air. "Too bad. It's time for bed."

"Come on, don't spoil the fun," Harper Avery said. "They're on vacation. Wouldn't hurt for them to stay up a little longer."

Jackson chuckled. "You want them to stay up late. You talk to April. She says it's time for bed. It's time for bed. But if anyone could change her mind, my bet would be on you."

"Hey boys, listen to your dad. It's bed time. We can finish playing cars tomorrow," Harper said as he helped his grandson pick up the boys' toys.

"Don't want to try to convince my wife?" Jackson asked, a knowing gleam in his eye. At his grandfather's shake of the head, he said, "I know. April can be kind of scary."

"I'm not afraid of your wife," the other man protested. "It's just that it's late and your wife can get a bit riled up when it comes to her children."

"When I married her, I thought she was going to stay the same mild mannered woman I had grown to love. I did not expect her to turn into a ferocious mama bear, but I guess that's what having kids does to a woman."

"Very true. Your grandmother was the same way. Speaking of April, where is she?" Harper asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Feeding Fred."

"Frederick Harper, that's a mouthful for a little tike, but I'm honored that you named him after me."

"That was April's idea," Jackson admitted. "I wanted to name him Rocky Sylvester."

This time, his grandpa chuckled. "That would have never happened. Maybe you could get a dog and name him that."

"Don't say that around April. She thinks it's time the boys had a pet. That's all we need three boys and a dog."

"Jackson," they heard April call. "Are you getting the boys ready for bed?"

"Yes, dear," he called back.

His grandpa just smiled and uttered, "Waapshh."

Jackson grimaced. Damn, even his own grandpa thought he was whipped.

* * *

Cristina would recognize that name anywhere. The woman who had been her mentor. The woman who had ultimately stolen the love of her life away from her. She was trying to move on. Really she was, but it didn't help that she'd been seated next to her because the organization throwing the conference knew they used to work together. Apparently, they didn't know the whole story. Picking up her place card, she fully intended to switch it with someone else's before Teddy realized they had been seated next to each other.

"Cristina," she heard a familiar voice say. Crap, she'd been caught red handed. Realizing it was too late to change seats, Cristina set the place card back down and turned to face a woman who she used to greatly admire. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes caught sight of Teddy. The other woman was pregnant, at least 5 or 6 months she guessed.

"Teddy, how are you?" she asked.

"Fantastic! A little tired, but I've never been better. How are you? How's Mayo?" she asked as she took a seat and set her phone on the table.

Cristina shoved the lump in her throat down. She didn't want a child. She shouldn't be jealous of this woman. But she was. Teddy was giving Owen the one thing she never could.

Breaking out of her thoughts, she answered, "Great. Mayo's great. I get to do a lot of surgeries."

"I'm very proud of you. Glad to see my student is doing so well," Teddy replied genuinely.

"Thanks," Cristina said as she sat in her chair. She could do this. Make chit chat with the woman married to her ex-husband. Then, she saw Teddy's cell phone light up and Owen's face flash across the screen. On second thought, no, she couldn't do this. Standing up, she said, "Teddy, I'm glad that your life is going so well, but I'm sure you can understand why I can't do this right now."

"Cristina, hold on. I didn't realize you were angry with me. You know that things with Owen didn't start up until after you two divorced."

Cristina nodded. "I know. It's not that. It's just he was my husband and I really loved him. It's just hard for me to watch him move on and be so happy."

"Cristina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable."

"I know. See you around," she said before walking away to find a new seat.

* * *

Mark, Callie, and Arizona sat in various places around the bathroom. Mark tapped his fingers against the counter, Callie chewed on her nails, and Arizona took deep breaths to steady herself. "If it doesn't happen this time, it's OK. We have enough money to try one more time," Arizona said.

"Or we could just go about it the old fashioned way," Mark joked.

"Yeah, right," Arizona shot back.

"You and me? You never know. They say opposites attract," Mark continued to tease.

Before Arizona could reply, the timer went off. Callie turned off the alarm on her phone, but no one moved. Finally, Arizona walked over to the shelf where she'd left the test. But she didn't look at it. She just stood near it.

"Well," Mark prompted.

"I can't look," Arizona whispered meekly. "You do it."

Mark strode over and took the test off the shelf. Looking down, a huge grin spread across his face. "It's positive. We're pregnant!" he shouted, picking her up and spinning her around.

Arizona's heart beat with joy as Mark set her back down on her feet. Rushing over to Callie, she embraced her wife. "We're having another baby," she whispered. All of a sudden, tears pricked her eyes.

Callie looked into her wife's eyes. "Hey, sweetheart, why are you crying?"

"I'm just so happy. I didn't know how much I wanted this until now. Thank you for letting me have this experience. Both of you. I mean it. The Robbins-Torres-Sloan family's about to get bigger," she added on a cheerful note. "Ready or not. Here we go."

* * *

The corner of Alex's mouth turned up in a smile. His wife had quickly fallen asleep after they had made love not once but twice. Something that in the past had not been unusual, but since Ella's arrival had become far less common. Gently extracting himself from his wife's arms, he got out of bed to get a drink of water. On the way to the kitchen, he stopped to check in on his daughter. She was still sound asleep. He gently rubbed her back and then made his way to the kitchen sink.

Gulping down his glass of water, he let out a breath. He hadn't realized just how much stress he'd been under lately with work and Izzie's scare. She hadn't wanted to tell him at first, but when the doctor wanted to run a series of tests on her, it had been unavoidable. She'd had to tell him. And he was glad that she did. He was her husband. It was his job to take care of her. Be there for her. But it still had scared the crap out of him. The first round of cancer had almost killed their relationship. It was a miracle that they were together now especially after what they'd been through in the past. He sure as hell didn't want a repeat of that. He didn't want her in pain. He didn't want her scared and making bad decisions. Most of all, he didn't want her to leave him again. He couldn't do it a second time. It would end him.

But it turned out he had no need to worry. Neither about the cancer or Izzie leaving him. She must have sensed his fear that she would leave him again, because one night only a couple weeks after her first check up she'd said, "I'm not going anywhere this time. I promise. I made a mistake leaving you years ago. I won't ever repeat it. Ever."

That had relieved a lot of the pressure, but it hadn't completely gone away until today. The results from her last test had come in today. Izzie had texted him "All clear. For good this time."

After he'd read the text, he'd gone into a bathroom stall and bawled like a freaking girl. It had completely caught him off guard because he hadn't teared up at all over the last few months, but knowing his wife was gonna be all right did something to him. It had even prompted him to buy her flowers. He never did that, but it had been pretty effective at getting him laid. He decided it would be a good idea to bring them home more often.


	21. Chapter 21

**Year 2017**

* * *

Addison walked out of the hospital room, dreading the news she had to deliver. Callie and Mark had wanted the baby so much. After she had cheated on Mark, Addison had really wanted this baby for him. He'd dealt with so much over the last few years. He deserved a win. At four and a half months, they all thought that Arizona was in the safety zone, that they didn't need to worry about something like this happening to them.

"So?" Mark asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry. She had a miscarriage. There wasn't anything we could do at this point."

"But why?" Callie asked through a blurry vision of tears. "I mean we all thought…we all thought everything was going great. She was almost 5 months along. What went wrong?"

Ten minutes earlier

_"Arizona, I'm sorry but you've lost the baby," Addison said._

_Arizona bit her lip, but that didn't stem the tears from flowing. "It's all my fault," she whispered. "Callie's never going to forgive me this time."_

_"Your tox screening noted high levels of oxycodone. What happened Arizona?"_

_"All of this is just too much. My life is just too much."_

_"I thought you wanted the baby."_

_"I did. I did. I just got scared and when I do, I do stupid things like turn to drugs."_

_Addison shook her head. It was clear that Arizona's drug use wasn't just a way to self-medicate her PTSD after the plane crash. It had blown up into a full on addiction._

_"You need treatment. Another visit to rehab would help. Maybe find a good psychiatrist who can help you keep your addiction in check."_

_"I know," Arizona nodded. "You're right."_

_"What are we going to tell Callie and Mark?"_

_"Don't tell them about the drugs. It would kill Callie and Mark would lynch me."_

_"Arizona, I don't think keeping this secret is a good idea."_

_"Whether it's a good idea or not, it's not your place to tell. Doctor-patient confidentiality."_

"Why did this happen, Addison? There's got to be a logical explanation…" Mark, who'd barely spoken to her in months, asked.

Addison put on her best poker face and replied, "I really can't say."

* * *

"Oh my gosh!" Izzie gasped as she walked into the living room.

"Hey Iz. How was work?" Alex asked, continuing to fix their daughter Ella's hair.

"It was good. What are you doing?" she asked cautiously, trying not to freak out.

"Thought Ella and I would go to the park for a bit. Just getting her ready. Want to come with?"

"I do, but more importantly what are you doing to our child?"

"OK, Dr. Model. I know I'm not some fashion guru, but I think she looks cute."

Izzie's eyes almost bugged out of her head. How she hated that nickname! Disregarding the distasteful nickname, Izzie crossed the room and took the rubber band out of her husband's hand.

"First of all, NEVER put rubber bands in a girl's hair. They are hella painful to take out. Secondly, she doesn't need 15 ponytails. She's a little girl not Coolio. And I don't even know what to say about this outfit. A red polka dotted shirt with her pink princess pajama pants? Thank goodness I got here in time or our neighbors are going to think our child was kidnapped by a deranged lunatic."

Alex looked at her in stunned surprise. He hadn't known the princess pants were pajamas. They were flannel, yes, but didn't girls wear flannel pants? And didn't all little girls wear their hair this way? In lots of little ponytails?

"I didn't know, Iz. I'm sorry."

Exasperated, Izzie took his place next to her daughter and set about fixing the mess he'd made. "If you don't know, you should ask."

Alex leaned back against the couch and watched as over the next ten minutes his daughter transformed from slightly scary to adorably cute. His wife was a miracle worker.

* * *

Meredith shook her head. She still couldn't believe she had a sister. A sister from her mother and Dr. Webber of all people. Her name was Maggie Pierce and she was a cardio god like Cristina. And she was just as annoying as Lexie had been when she'd first met her.

But Meredith was trying harder this time. One thing that the plane crash had taught her was to not to take family for granted. So she was making an effort to get to know Maggie. She'd even lent her their mother's journals for her to read.

Maggie worked at a hospital in Connecticut so they saw each other fairly often. Zola adored her Aunt Maggie. Derek had even managed to get a few more styling ideas for Zola's hair from her. Without Bailey around, Zola went to school in one of three hair styles that were in her parents' repertoire. Fortunately, Maggie had changed all of that.

The only problem that stood in Meredith's way was the fact that she knew who Maggie's real father was and Maggie didn't. From the first sight of her sister, Meredith had known without a doubt who her sister's biological dad was, but Maggie didn't seem to want to know. She was happy with her adopted family. They adored and doted upon her. Meredith was almost jealous of how well-adjusted her sister was. She wondered if she would be normal if her mother had given her up for adoption, but then again she probably would have never married Derek if she hadn't been as messed up as she was.

Still, she felt like she should do something. Richard had a right to know, didn't he? And surely Maggie wouldn't be upset if she played family matchmaker?

Without giving it a second thought, Meredith reached for her phone.

* * *

"I know this is long overdue, but happy 5th anniversary!" April cried, greeting Jackson at the door.

Jackson shrugged out of his jacket and put it in the coat closet. Grinning, he asked, "What's this all about?"

April bit her lip. She knew the skimpy black lingerie was a bold move for her, but she wanted to truly celebrate her anniversary. It had been months since their actual anniversary which had consisted of a quick peck on the lips and a brief gift exchange. After 5 years, she thought they'd deserved something better.

"I thought we could finally celebrate our anniversary. Maybe have a little dessert before dinner?" April replied huskily.

"The kids?"

"Over at my friend Mary's. I told her we'd pick them up around 10."

"Call her and tell her I'll give her a thousand bucks if she'll keep them overnight," Jackson murmured as he pulled his sweatshirt over his head.

April shook her head. "No can do. I'm still breastfeeding Fred. We have 4 hours to celebrate. Let's not waste them."

"Then, we'd better get started," Jackson said, rushing towards his wife and scooping her up in his arms.

April giggled as he approached the stairs but taking a look at the long way up decided to head towards the living room instead. As her back hit the couch, April thumped her husband on the chest. "Too old to carry your wife up the stairs?"

"You're not as light as you used to be," Jackson teased.

"Having three babies will do that to you…" April said, suddenly feeling a little insecure.

Not meaning to ruin the moment, Jackson did his best to make amends. "I love the way you look. You're even more beautiful than the first time we were together. You have made my life so much better over these last 5 years. Thank you. Happy belated anniversary," he whispered, rubbing his nose against hers.

"Enough with the yappity yap, take your pants off," April said as her hands roamed to his belt buckle.

* * *

"One more push, Teddy. One more and he'll be out!" Owen encouraged.

"Arggghhh!" Teddy groaned, sweat dripping down her face. What had possessed her to do this the natural way? "Why did you do this to me Owen?" she said, gripping her husband's collar.

"I'm sorry, love. The pain won't last for much longer. Just one more push," Owen cajoled.

"I can't," Teddy cried, lying back down. "I can't. I can't. It hurts too much."

Propping his wife back into a sitting position, Owen took one of her hands in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Yes, you can. We've survived war. We can survive the birth of our son. You can do this. One more push, baby, one more push."

Giving a half groan, half sob, Teddy put all her energy into a final push. Collapsing back against the bed, she asked, "Is he here?"

Owen nodded, blinking back tears. "Yep, our son is here, safe and sound."

There was a time when he'd thought this moment would never come, that he'd never get to experience the joy of being a father. Yet, here he was, a dad.


End file.
